COL.  GEORGE  WASHINGTON  FLOWERS 
MEMORIAL  COLLECTION 


DUKE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
DURHAM,  N.  C. 


PRESENTED  BY 

W.  W.  FLOWERS 


/4 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/prosperityofsout01blai 


THE 

PROSPERITY  OF  THE  SOUTH 

DEPENDENT  UPON  THE 

ELEVATION  OF  THE  NEGRO 


BY 

LEWIS  H.  BI^AIR, 

AUTHOR  OF 

"UNWISE  LAWS." 


RICHMOND,  VA.: 

KVBBBTT  WADDEY. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1889,  by 
LEWIS  H.  BLAIR, 
in  the  oflQce  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress. 


-  WEW"'  LECTION 
PREFACE. 


In  discussing  great  themes,  iu  contemplating  great  subjects,  it 
is  essential,  in  order  to  arrive  at  a  true  interpretation  or  to  reach 
a  wise  decision,  to  take  into  consideration  great  causes  and  broad 
effects. 

In  the  lower  realms  of  animal  life  we  can  sever  and  dissever, 
and  each  segment  at  once  begins  a  new  and  separate  existence 
entu'ely  independent  of  its  parent  form.  But  when  we  ascend 
higher,  bisection  means  destruction,  and  equally  when  we  ap- 
proach the  grand  region  of  humanity,  and  its  vast  concerns,  we 
cannot  cut  into  fragments  and  discuss  each  section,  as  if  it  had  a 
separate  existence,  as  if  it  were  independent  of  its  connections 
and  surroundings;  or  if  we  do,  we  necessarily  remain  in  the  dark- 
ness of  error,  and,  instead  of  walking  in  pathways  illumined  by 
day,  we  stumble  into  pitfalls,  we  flounder  in  quagmires  concealed 
by  the  gloom  of  night. 

Now,  few  themes,  few  subjects,  are  or  can  be  of  vaster  import 
than  the  prosperity  and  happiness,  not  only  of  the  twelve  mil- 
lions and  more  souls  dwelling  in  our  Southern  land,  but  of  the 
many  more  and  innumerable  millions  that  are  to  come  after  us; 
and,  therefore,  there  is  no  question  that  it  behooves  us  to  approach 
with  broader  views  or  with  a  more  judicial  spirit.  This  is  not  a 
question  that  can  possibly  be  handled  piece-meal;  it  cannot  be 
cut  up  into  fragments,  but  it  must  be  considered  in  its  entirety; 
or  if  for  convenience  it  be  subdivided,  each  portion  must  be  con- 
sidered in  reference  to  every  other  portion  and  to  the  whole. 

The  student  of  anatomy  necessarily  cuts  into  fragmtnts  the 
human  cadaver,  but  the  most  important,  the  most  interesting 
organs — the  heart,  the  lungs,  the  eyes— are  to  him  but  so  much 
unmeaning  and  useless  matter,  unless  they  are  studied  in  con- 
nection with  every  other  organ,  and  with  the  ho&y  as  a  whole. 
The  story  of  the  members  of  a  man  disputing  about  their  relative 
importance  well  illustrates  this  point;  each  is  essential  as  a  part  of 
the  whole — all  are  useless  or  helpless  when  taken  simply  as  parts. 


311988 


iv 


PREFACE. 


It  devolves  upbn  a  proponent  to  state  his  case  and  to  prove  it, 
and  this  I  have  sought  to  do.  If,  however,  I  have  failed,  the 
failure  is  owing  to  the  feebleness  of  the  individual  rather  than  to 
the  merits  of  the  subject.  But  if  not  only  the  individual  be  incom- 
petent, as  well  I  may  be  in  presence  of  such  a  theme,  but  the 
cause  itself  be  wrong,  or  even  impracticable  in  the  end,  my 
utmost  efforts  will  of  course  be  vain,  and  I  will  rejoice  in  failure, 
for  I  have  no  pride  or  vanity  of  any  sort  to  exploit  or  sustain,  and 
no  selfish  interest  of  any  kind  to  subserve.  But,  right  or  wrong, 
a  full  and  free  discussion  can  never  injure  any  good  cause,  for  the 
maxim  is  that,  when  truth  and  error  are  free  to  contend,  truth  is 
sure  finally  to  prevail.  The  individual  may  and  doubtless  will 
be  injured  in  such  conflict,  but  society  itself  will  be  the  gainer. 

But  be  this  as  it  may,  the  great  question  of  the  prosperity  of  the 
South,  and  all  that  it  implies,  is  now  before  the  world,  and  it  can 
be  successfully  met  only  by  a  broad  and  liberal  discussion  of  the 
whole  merits  of  the  case.  We  cannot  accept  some  points  that  are 
agreeable  and  reject  others  that  are  distasteful  unless  we  can  show 
that  what  is  displeasing  is  repugnant,  and  what  is  pleasing  is 
agreeable  to  reason  itself. 

We  cannot  say  that  God  intends  or  God  never  intended  so  and 
so,  because  as  yet  none  of  us  have  been  taken  into  the  counsels  of 
the  Almighty. 

We  cannot  say  that  the  negro  is  incapable  of  elevation,  because 
hitherto  under  surroundings  which  have  always  been  adverse  to 
improvement  he  has  done  little  or  nothing  for  the  advancement 
of  civilization,  and  is  still  mostly  a  degraded  savage  or  barbarian, 
because  he  has,  when  exposed  to  white  influences,  even  those  of 
servitude,  greatly  improved  over  his  ancestors  in  Africa,  and  since 
freedom  he  has  not  only  advanced  as  a  race,  but  particularly  as 
individuals,  which  we  can  see  before  our  very  eyes. 

We  cannot  say  that  the  South  is  a  white  man's  country,  and 
that  therefore  the  whites  must  arbitrarily  rule  all  other  colors, 
even  though  they  be  free  and  equal  citizens,  for  what  makes  it  a 
white  man's  country?  Does  original  possession?  No;  because 
we  robbed  the  Indians  of  it  and  then  exterminated  them.  Does 
nativity  ?  Yes.  Well,  the  negroes  were  born  here  too,  and  there- 
fore it  is  as  much  their  country  as  ours.  We  cannot  say  that  race 
prejudice  forbids,  for  granting  this  kind  of  prejudice  to  be  almost 
ineradicable,  yet  experience  and  a  most  elementary  knowledge 


PREFACE. 


V 


tells  us  that  not  onlj^  race  but  also  religious  prejudice,  almost  as 
ineradicable,  has  beeuimniensely  weakened  and  is  still  continually 
weariDg  away  under  the  influence  of  reason  and  commercial 
intercourse.  Humanity  has  solved  many  knotty  and  apparently 
insoluble  questions,  and  race  prejudice,  like  others,  will  be  solved 
as  well. 

We  cannot  say  such  things  shall  never  be,  because  can  we  ever 
expect  to  see  in  the  future  any  greater  changes  than  the  present 
generation  has  witnessed — from  the  negro  a  slave  with  his  life 
practically  in  our  hands  to  the  negro  a  law-maker  and  a  juryman 
sitting  in  judgment  upon  the  property,  yea,  and  upon  the  liberty, 
too,  of  the  former  master  ?  and  all  with  our  acquiesence. 

We  cannot  say  we  shall  not  amend  this  and  cease  to  do  that 
because  others  elsewhere  do  similar  things,  for  this  plea  (it  is  not 
worthy  of  argument)  is  worthy  only  of  wayward  children,  audit 
condones  the  reprehensible  deeds  of  others. 

We  cannot  say  that  the  negroes  are  wretched,  poor,  degraded) 
everything  that  is  contemptible  and  objectionable,  for  that  is  but 
a  stronger  reason,  from  the  standpoint  of  prosperity,  why  we 
should  diligently  seek  to  lift  them  up  and  render  them  thrifty 
and  intelligent,  for  from  nothing  nothing  can  come,  and  from 
creatures  in  their  present  lowly,  degraded  and  ineffective  plight 
we  can  expect  little  or  no  assistance  in  our  progress  towards  pros- 
perity. 

Yes,  we  can  say  and  do  all  the  things  we  ought  not  to  do,  and 
we  can  leave  undone  all  the  things  we  ought  to  do — all  the  power 
of  the  United  States  Government  cannot  compel  us — but  in  fol- 
lowing this  course  we  are  making  an  Ireland  of  the  South,  and 
are  digging  broad  and  deep  graves  in  which  to  bury  prosperity 
and  all  its  untold  advantages. 

But  enough  ;  the  idea  is  given,  and  now  to  the  essay. 

Hichmond,  Va.,  Sej:)tembe7\  1888. 


311988 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I.— Prosperity  not  a  free  Gift  of  Providence  or  Chance,  but  to  be 

bought  and  full  price  paid— Is  the  South  Prosperous?  ,  1 

CHAPTER  II.— South  not  Prosperous— Why  ?— Principal  Cause  Degradation  of 
the  Negro — Elevation  of  the  Xegro  Urged  on  Economic  Grounds,  not  on 
Grounds  of  Justice  or  Religion   9 

CHAPTER  III.— South  not  Prosperous— Example  of  Georgia— Her  Poverty— Con- 
trary Example  of  Palatinate  in  1674— Few  or  no  Savings  Banks— Few  other  ~ 
Banks— Proportion  of  Railways— Very  Few  Manufactures  and  they  ver^- 
Crude— Statistics  Thereof— Production  of  Iron  and  Steel  i:\  1887— Manufac- 
tures of  Thirteen  Southern  Cities— Summary  of  Aggregated  Wealth  ....  13 

CHAPTER  IV.— Growth  of  Cities  and  Causes  Thereof— Examples— Gro^vth  of 

Thirty  Southern  Cities  and  of  Four  Ohio  and  Four  New  Jersey  Cities  ...  22 

CHAPTER  v.— Why  Elevate  the  Negro?  To  make  Him  an  Eflacient  and  Profit- 
able Wealth-Producer— Must  Trample  or  llnst  Elevate— Must  make  Him  a 
Slave  or  a  Man— Labor  Corner-Stone  of  Wealth — Ex.:mples  of  No-W^orker, 
of  Unintelligent  Worker,  and  of  Intelligent  Worker— South  can  expect 
Prosperity  only  through  Intelligent  Labor— United  States  would  still  be  a 
Wilderness  but  for  Intelligent  Labor   27 

CHAPTER  A"I.— Prosperity  in  Proportion  to  Intelligence— Illiteracy  in  Southern, 
Western  and  New  England  States — Ignorance  is  Poverty  and  Degradation 
for  Whites  and  Blacks  Alike— Poverty  will  Continue  as  long  as  Ignorance. 
Prosperity  of  the  South  Bound  Up  with  Elevation  of  the  Laboring  Popula- 
tion   32 

CHAPTER  YIL— Can  the  Negro  be  Elevated  ?— Examples  of  Progress  Here— Field 
Slaves  Improvement  on  Relatives  in  Africa— House  Slaves  an  Improvement 
on  Field  Slaves,  and  Fr-eedmen  Great  Improvement  on  House  Slaves— Ex- 
amples of  Progress  in  Africa— Causes  of  Negro  Degradation  and  of  White 
Elevation— Status  of  the  Negro  in  Europe  and  Brazil— Full  Equality— Ex- 
amples of  Society  in  Rio — Progress  not  Inalienable  to  Whites   36 

CHAPTER  VIII.— Why  not  let  Time  Elevate?— Our  Lives  too  Short— Must  Hasten 
and  Assist  Natural  Process  of  Time— Elevation  cannot  be  summary ;  must 
have  Cordial  Co-operation  of  the  Wliites— Elevation  of  the  Negro  does  not 
mean  Negro  Domination — Why  ?   43 

CHAPTER  IX.— To  Elevate  must  Inspire  with  Hope  and  Self- Respect— Negro 
has  Little  of  Either— Caste— The  South  a  Land  of  Caste  and  Privilege—All 
Whites  in  Highest,  all  Negroes  in  Lowest  Caste   47 


viii 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  X.— If  Highest  Caste  will  not  Elevate,  must  Crush  Lowest  Caste  to 
Powder— Race  Prejudice  must  b3  Mollified  and  Obliterated— Prejudice  Mark 
of  Inferiority— Courts  of  Justice  must  be  Impartial  to  All  Colors— Why 
Negroes  do  not  Enjoy  such  Impartiality— Whites  Kind  to  Negroes  Individ- 
ually, but  Kindness  must  be  Accepted  as  Inferiors  

CHAPTER  XI.— Other  Things  we  must  Do— The  Negroes  should  be  Allowed  Free 
Admission  to  All  Hotels,  Theatres,  Churches,  and  Official  Receptions — Such 
Places  not  Private  Property— Why  they  Belong  to  the  Whole  Public— Why 
Negroes  should  not  be  restricted  to  Places  for  Negroes— If  so,  Same  Princi- 
ple of  Segregation  should  be  Applied  to  Other  Things  and  to  People  of 
Each  State— Example  of  Drummer— Imaginary  Examples,  &c  

CHAPTER  XII.— Negro  Votes  Freely  in  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and  Tennessee, 
but  not  in  the  Six  Southern  States;  Why?— Tables  Showing  Population, 
Voting,  State  and  Congressional  Representation  in  Three  Southern  States 
and  Six  Other  Southern  States— Similar  Tables  for  New  York  and  Massachu- 
setts and  for  Ohio  and  Illinois — Bad  EflFects  of  not  Voting— All  should  be 
Encouraged  to  Vote— Examples— Ballot  to  Virginia  Negro  Stands  for  Every- 
thing Great,  Good  and  Glorious— Cultivation  of  Tobacco  makes  Virginia 
Negro  Eager  to  Vote— Cultivation  of  Cotton  makes  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia  Negro  Apathetic— Religion  may  make  South  Carolina  and  Georgia 
Negro  Indifferent  to  Ballot — Example  of  what  South  Carolina  and  Georgia 
Negro  Yields  for  sake  of  Religion— Negroes  of  the  Six  Southern  States  only 
Apostolic  Christians  

CHAPTER  XIII.  -Why  Negro  Elevation  does  not  Mean  Negro  Rule— Total 
Change  of  Condition  between  lSG5-'78  and  1878'-88— Statement  of  Changed 
Conditions— If  a  Free  Vote  Means  Negro  Rule,  then  Negro  Rule  Prevails 
Over  Eastern  Virginia— Example  of  the-  Black  Belt,  or  Fourth  Congres- 
sional District  in  Virginia— A  Free  Ballot  not  Injurious  to  Virginia  and 
Tennessee— Why  Negroes  are  Inimical  to  Whites— Color  Line  the  Work  of 
Whites — Statesmanship  Impossible  while  Color  Line  Continues  

CHAPTER  XIV.— Negro  not  a  Competent  Voter  ;  neither  are  Millions  of  White 
Voters  ;  but  Ea  lot  Absolutely  Essential  to  his  Freedom— Ruin  of  the  Com- 
monwealth that  Degrades  its  Citizens — Tyranny  Destroys  the  State  and 
Demoralizes  the  Citizens — Southerners  cannot  Escape  the  Demoralizing 
Effects  of  Tyranny  .  .  .   

CHAPTER  XV.— Education— Its  Vast  Importance— Sums  Spent  Annually  by 
Ohio,  Michigan,  Indiana,  and  Illinois— Tables  of  Non-Readers  and  Non 
Writers  in  Eleven  Southern  States— Of  the  Press  South  and  other  States. 
Of  Higher  Education— Many  Lawyers,  but  Few  Mechanical,  Scientific,  or 
Literary  Men  in  Southern  States  

CHAPTER  XVI  —Education  Continued— Private  and  Voluntary,  «>r  Public  and 
Compulsory  Schools,  only  Methods  of  Combatting  Ignorance— South  Depen- 
dent on  Wretched  Public  Schools— Tables  of  School  Population  and  Number 
to  Square  Mile  in  Southern  States  and  in  Four  AVestern  States— Number  of 
Square  Miles  Required  for  Average  School  of  Thirty— Percentage  of  School 
attendance — Average  Pay  of  School-Teachers  and  Average  Day's  Attend- 
ance in  South — With  Separate  Schools  Education  Impossible  and  Prosperity 
a  Deixision  


CONTENTS.  IX 

CHAPTER  XVII.-  Education  Continued— Remedy  Proposed— The  Abandonment 

of  Separate  Schools— The  Necessity  Tliereof  and  "Why— It  Doubles  Basis  for 
Schools — Separate  Schools  a  Public  Proclamation  of  Caste— Inferiority  of 
Negroes — Why  they  Render  General  Educaiion  Impossible— Their  Tendency 
Radically  Demoralizing— Differences  between  Men  Principally  Differences 
of  Education  ...    98 

CHAPTER  XVIII. — Education  Continued — Fear  of  Demoralization— Mixed 
Schools  do  not  ]NIean  Demoralization  of  Whites  but  Elevation  of  Blacks. 
Influence  Descends— The  Higher  Demoralizes  the  Lower,  not  the  Lower  the 
Higher— Example  of  ^Nurses— Of  Playmates— The  Mammy— Examples  of 
Higher  Demoralizing  Lower  103 

CHAPTER  XIX.— Other  Injurious  Consequences  of  Separate  Schools  and  Other 
Advantages  of  Mixed  Schools— Separate  Schools  mean  Oligarchy,  Caste,  and 
not  Democracy— Inculcate  Inequality  at  Beginning  of  Instruction,  Cultivate 
Autocracy  and  Haughtiness  in  Whites  and  Abasement  and  Servility  in 
Blacks — Emancipation,  Negro  Suffrage,  Negroes  on  Juries,  &c  ,  &c.,  proved 
Chimeras ;  so  will  Mixed  Schools— Mixed  Schools  will  Disseminate  Correct 
Ideas  of  Liberty  107 

CHAPTER  XX.— The  Color  Line— Dangers  of  this  Line— Who  Draws  It,  Whites 
or  Blacks?— Whites  Opposed  to  Everj- Right  Gained  by  Blacks,  and  Refuse 
them  All  Ofllce— Blacks  when  in  Control  Confer  Offices  on  Whites— Why 
Blacks  Vote  For  Republicans  and  Against  Democrats  Ill 

CHAPTER  XXL— The  Dangers  Threatened  ty  the  Present  Condition  of  the 
Negro- Dangers  from  Within — Enmity  and  Bitterness  of  Blacks  to  Whites  ; 
Causes  Thereof— Whites  Opposed  Every  Right  Gained  by  Negroes— Special 
Legislation  against  Blacks— Whites  Deliberately  Increasing  these  Feelings. 
How?— By  seeking  to  Educate  the  Blacks  to  be  Content  with  an  Inferior 
Status— Should  be  Educated  to  the  Utmost  or  every  Negro  School  should  be 
Closed— Thrx;e  Alternatives- Give  the  Blacks  and  Inch  and  they  will  take 
an  Ell — No — Why  Reconstruction  Days  Impossible— What  has  Occurred  in 
Virginia  118 

CHAPTER  XXII.— The  Dangers  threatened  from  the  Present  Condition  of  the 
Negro — Dangers  from  Without— Dangers  of  Sectionalism  not  Removed  by 
Emancipation,  but  Direction  Changed— Weakness  of  the  South  Sure  to  Con- 
tinue and  Increase — Tables  Showing  This — Constitution  Impotent  to  Pro- 
tect— Partisan  Majority  in  Congress  can  Absolutely  Disfranchise  Every 
Southern  State  126 

CHAPTER  XXIII.— What  of  the  Future?— Present  Status  Likely  to  Pass  Away. 
Day  Breaks  

CHAPTER  XXIV.— To  the  North— In  Vain  to  Preach  Right  until  Interest  is 
Shown  to  be  on  the  Side  of  Right— Example  of  England  and  India,  and  of 
the  Manufacturing  States  and  Rest  of  the  Countn.-  138 


CHAPTER  XXV.— The  Duty  of  the  North 


143 


THE 

PROSPERITY  OF  THE  SOUTH 

DEPfJXDEXT  UPOX 

The  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


Chapter  I. 

Prosperity  not  a  free  gift  of  Providence  or  Chance,  but  to  be 
bought  and  full  price  paid—Is  the  South  Prosperous? 

Twenty-odcl  years  ago,  when  I  cast  aside  the  sword  and 
re-entered  the  walks  of  civil  life,  I  fondly  imagined  a 
great  era  of  prosperity  for  the  South.  Guided  by  histor}- 
and  by  a  knowledge  of  our  people  and  our  climatic  and 
physical  advantages,  I  saw  in  anticipation  all  her  tribula- 
tions ended,  all  her  scars  healed,  and  all  the  ravages  of 
war  forgotten,  and  I  beheld  the  South  greater,  richer  and 
mightier  than  when  she  moulded  the  political  policy  of 
the  whole  country.  But  year  by  year  these  hopes,  chas- 
tened by  experience,  have  waned  and  faded,  until  now, 
instead  of  beholding  the  glorious  South  of  my  imagina- 
tion, I  see  her  sons  poorer  than  when  war  ceased  his 
ravages,  weaker  than  when  rehabilitated  with  her  original 
rights,  and  with  the  bitter  memories  of  the  past  smoul- 
dering, if  not  rankling,  in  the  bosoms  of  many. 

And  why  all  this  great  deviation  from  what  was  rea- 
sonable anticipation?    Can  it  be  that  some  wayward  and 

(1) 


2  The  Prosperity  of  tJie  South  Dependent 


malign  providence,  actuated  by  envy,  hatred  or  malice, 
has  guided  our  ways  and  efforts  to  disappointment  and 
disaster,  or  has  chance  presided  over  and  wrecked  our 
destiny,  or  have  there  been  causes  of  our  own  or  of 
others,  or  of  nature's  making,  that  have  given  us  stones 
when  we  had  reason  to  expect  bread  ? 

It  cannot  be  providence,  because  we  cannot  suppose 
that  providence  is  some  fortuitous,  arbitrary  agent,  that 
can  be  swayed  and  swerved  by  prayers  and  supplications, 
or  by  threats  and  maledictions.  Nor  can  we  suppose  that 
providence  is  a  fickle  dame,  acting  on  one  principle  to-day 
and  on  the  opposite  one  to-morrow,  producing  grapes 
from  thorns  one  season,  and  figs  from  thistles  the  next. 
On  the  contrary,  providence  is  strictly  just,  having  no 
favorites,  and  holds  the  scales  level  between  all  creatures, 
regarding  neither  color,  creed,  previous  condition,  nor 
nationality.  Providence  is  thoroughly  realistic,  and  as 
thoroughly  unsentimental,  and  smiles  and  frowns  accord- 
ing to  acts,  and  not  according  to  intentions.  Providence 
and  justice  are  linked  in  close  co-partnership,  and  if 
things  turn  not  out  according  to  our  liking,  we  may  be 
sure  that  we  and  not  providence  is  at  fault. 

Nor  can  our  disappointment  be  attributed  to  chance, 
blind  or  otherwise,  for  there  is  no  such  word  as  chance  in 
religion,  or  modern  philosophy  either. 

Then  our  disappointment,  if  disappointed  we  are,  and 
our  lack  of  prosperity,  if  unprosperous  we  be,  must  be 
due  to  cause.  If  to  cause,  then  it  behooves  us  to  inquire 
honestly  whether  it  be  natural,  and  therefore  irremedi- 
able, or  artificial  and  of  our  own  making,  and  therefore 
remediable  by  our  own  volition,  or  whether  artificial,  but 
of  others'  making,  and  therefore  remediable  only  by  con- 
cert of  action.  If  natural,  and  therefore  beyond  our 
control,  we  must  accommodate  ourselves  thereto,  for 
nature  never  consults  man's  convenience.  If  of  our  own 
making,  and  therefore  remediable,  it  doubly  behooves  us 


Vpon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


3 


to  remove  all  such  cause.  But  if  of  others'  making,  hut 
yet  remediahle,  it  likewise  behooves  us  to  look  around 
and  seek  for  such  removal  too.  Doubtless  all  these 
causes  conspire  more  or  less  towards  our  lack  of  pros- 
perity, but  it  is  of  the  causes  within  our  own  control  that 
we  are  now  mainly  concerned,  and  the  others  will  not  be 
touched. 

The  real  C|uestion  before  us  is :  Is  the  South  pros- 
perous ?  If  the  correct  answer  be  in  the  affirmative,  then 
this  proposed  inquiry  is  altogether  fruitless;  but  if  in  the 
negative,  then  this  proposed  inquiry  into  the  prosperity 
of  the  South  becomes  the  most  momentous  that  can 
engage  our  attention.  Judging  by  the  glowing  reports 
in  the  newspapers  for  the  past  three  years,  we  must  con- 
clude that  the  South  is  enjoying  a  veritable  deluge  of 
prosperity,  and  that  both  individually  and  as  States  they 
are  surpassing  even  the  Eastern  States,  those  petted  chil- 
dren of  legislation  since  the  foundation  of  the  Union. 
Judging  by  these  sheets,  one  would  naturally  imagine 
that  the  South  is  a  region  where  poverty  is  unknown  and 
where  everj^body  is  industriously  and  successfully  laying 
up  wealth;  wdiere  manufacturing  sites  are  engrossing 
arable  lands;  where  cotton,  so  long  king,  is  tottering  on 
his  throne,  and  where  manufactures  are  about  to  usurp 
his  sceptre.  Seen  through  newspaper  lenses,  the  South 
is  indeed  a  happy  Acadia. 

Just  here  it  may  be  w^ell  to  say  a  few  words  about 
so-called  Manufacturers'  Records  which  are  circulating  a 
vast  amount  of  misinformation  about  the  growth  and  pros- 
perity of  the  South,  and  misleading  multitudes  on  this 
point. 

Such  journals  proceed  on  the  same  plan  as  would  the 
Superintendent  of  the  Census  in  1890,  should  he,  instead 
of  actually  enumerating  the  people,  start  with  the 
population  of  1880,  and  add  thereto  not  only  all 
the  births,  but  also  all  the  still-births,  all  the  miscarriages, 


4  Tlie  Prosj'CTity  of  the  South  Dependent 


aticl  all  the  abortions  since  that  year,  and  deduct 
nothing  for  deaths  in  the  meanwhile.  Of  course  such  a 
computation  would  be  utterly  absurd,  and  could  only 
lead  to  ridiculous  conclusions.  But  so  it  is  with  the  com- 
putations of  the  so-called  Manufacturers'  Records.  In 
arriving  at  their  aggregates  of  additional  manufactures 
they  write  to  the  proprietors  of  every  scheme  they  see 
noticed  in  their  local  exchanges,  and  they  include  not 
only  concerns  that  have  actually  begun  operations,  but 
also  all  projected,  and  even  all  suggested  enterprises,  all 
of  which  they  capitalize  at  the  highest  authorized  amount, 
and  to  make  their  calculations  all  the  more  mischievous 
and  misleading  they  deduct  nothing  for  the  many  hun- 
dreds or  many  thousands  of  manufacturing  concerns  that 
annually  fail  or  retire  from  business. 

Thus  in  the  census  of  1880  the  South  is  credited  with 
$133,240,000  manufacturing  capital,  but  for  the  last  eight 
years  these  reliable  records  have  by  actual,  probable,  and 
possible  manufacturing  enterprises,  by  capitalizing  them 
at  their  maximum  and  by  deducting  nothing  for  failures 
and  retirements,  added  not  less  than  $1,000,000,000  to 
the  manufacturing  capital  of  the  Soutli,  or  nearly  eight 
times  as  much  as  the  South  started  with  in  1865,  and 
had  succeeded  in  gathering  together  during  the  subsequent 
fifteen  years.  The  impression  is  sought  to  be  conveyed 
that  while  the  South  had  $133,240,000  employed  in  man- 
ufactures in  1880  she  has  in  1888  $1,133,240,000  so 
employed.*  This  is  entirely  false,  because  the  South  has  lost 
since  1880  quite  as  much  as  she  has  gained  in  manufac- 
tures, or  at  the  very  best  no  one  at  all  familiar  with  the 
South  doubts  that  the  census  will  show  no  greater  increase 
of  manufactures  than  it  does  population.  The  writer 
lives  in  one  of  the  principal  manufacturing  cities  of  the 


♦  Thus  the  Baltimore  Manufacturer's  Record  of  March  29th,  18?9,  reports  for  first 
quarter  of  1889  an  addition  of  $42,162,000  to  the  manufacturing  capital  of  the  eleven 
Southern  States. 


upon  the  Elevation  of  tJte  Js^eyro. 


5 


South,  and  he  observes  therein  no  great  increase  of  man- 
ufactures, the  failures  having  almost  if  not  quite  o{fset 
the  increase.  In  the  mineral  regions  there  has  been  some 
increase,  but  it  is  pretty  certain  that  this  growth  has  been 
fully  offset  by  decadence  in  the  South  at  large. 

Newspaper  compilations  may  discredit  such  opinions, 
but  while  such  compilations  are  praiseworthy  in  intent, 
we  all  know  what  exaggerations  they  usually  are  when 
confronted  by  official  documents.  They  are  gen- 
erally based  upon  "about"  statements  of  the  parties 
applied  to,  and  in  such  cases  " about"  generally  means 
largely  in  excess  of  the  actual,  just  as  current  rumor 
reports  A  or  B  to  be  worth  "about"  one  or  ten  millions, 
when  the  executor  is  glad  to  find  half  the  "about." 
Thus  in  Richmond,  the  Dispatches  compilation  of  manu- 
factures for  1879  was  |23,466,640,  wdiile  according  to  the 
census  of  1880,  six  months  later,  they  were  $20,790,000, 
and  the  population.  January  1,  1880,  was  80,000  accord- 
ing to  the  board  of  health,  while  the  census,  taken  five 
months  later,  gave  a  population  of  63,600. 

A  few  words  also  as  to  the  glowing  reports  of  the  pros- 
perity of  the  South  as  set  forth  by  Colonel  Alex.  K. 
McClure,  Hon.  Wm.  D.  Kelly,  and  others.  These  gentle- 
men occupy  pretty  much  the  position  of  kings  who,  sur- 
rounded by  ministers  and  courtiers  whose  interest  it  is  to 
keep  them  in  darkness,  rarely  if  ever  know  the  true  state 
of  affairs,  and  their  opinions  are  of  as  little  value.  These 
gentlemen  who  undertake  to  learn  the  condition  of  affairs 
by  a  hurried  trip  in  palace  cars  are  usually  taken  in 
charge  and  coached  by  interested  parties,  who  carry  them 
to  a  few  selected  spots  like  Birmingham  and  Chattanooga, 
where  there  is  much  life,  activity  and  growth,  and  are 
told  exultingly,  "  There  !  Look  !  Does  not  this  remind 
you  of  Pennsylvania?"  &c.,  &c.  These  gentlemen  are 
thus  placed  in  the  attitude  of  envoys  in  olden  times  to  an 
enemy's  camp.    The  envoys  were  led  blindfolded  through 


6 


The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


the  camp,  and  their  eyes  were  only  unbandaged  when  they 
reached  the  royal  headquarters,  where  everything  had 
been  prearranged  to  impress  them  with  the  power  and 
magnificence  of  the  army  or  sovereign.  So  these  gentle- 
men, having  been  hurried  through  hundreds  of  miles  in 
luxurious  palace  coaches,  have  practically  been  blind- 
folded as  to  the  condition  of  the  country  passed  through, 
and  not  having  their  eyes  unbandaged  until  in  the  midst 
of  furnaces,  rolling-mills,  and  all  the  activities  of  a  manu- 
facturing centre,  they  are  dazzled  by  what  they  see,  and 
they  at  once  jump  to  the  conclusion  that  what  they 
behold  is  merely  a  type  of  the  whole  South,  and  that  as 
there  is  gre^t  prosperity  before  their  eyes,  so  there  is  great 
prosperity  in  the  South. 

These  gentlemen  altogether  forget,  most  likely,  listen- 
ing to  the  brilliant  conversation  of  their  chaperones  about 
the  new  South ;  have  not  seen  the  hundreds  and  hundreds 
of  miles  of  poor  country  passed  through,  with  its  fence- 
less plantations,  its  unpainted  and  dilapidated  home- 
steads, its  small  proportion  of  cultivated  fields  and  its 
large  proportion  of  lands  returning  and  returned  to  a 
state  of  nature,  its  patches  instead  of  its  fields  of  crops, 
the  scarcity  of  stock  of  all  kinds,  and  the  thriftless  and  idle 
groups  found  at  almost  every  depot.  They  lose  sight  of  the 
real  South — that  is  to  say,  of  ninety-five  per  cent,  thereof, 
but  seeing  the  other  five  per  cent,  concentrated  in  two  or 
three  active,  stirring,  and  busy  cities  they  erroneously  con- 
clude that  the  ninety-five  per  cent,  which  they  do  not  and 
cannot  see  is  like  the  five  per  cent,  which  they  have  been 
invited  to  inspect.  Reversing  the  process  of  the  tiny  frag- 
ment held  close  to  the  eye,  hiding  the  sun  and  holding 
these  bits  of  sunshine  close  to  the  eye,  the  South  at  large, 
great  though  its  poverty  actually  is,  is  made  to  appear  as 
bright  and  as  prosperous  as  these  bits  of  sunshine. 

If,  instead  of  this  process,  these  gentlemen  would  visit 
the  farming  and  planting  community,  whether  cotton, 


upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


7 


tobacco,  sugar,  grain,  or  what  not  be  raised,  which  is  the 
real  South,  and  if  they  were  brought  into  actual  business 
contact  with  the  people  themselves  they  would  soon  see, 
even  leaving  out  the  six  millions  of  negroes  who  are  in 
the  depths  of  indigence,  that  fully  ninety-five  per  cent,  of 
the  whites  would  at  death  leave  their  families,  after  debts 
were  paid,  with  scarcely  more  than  a  roof  to  cover  them 
and  that  for  every  ten  living  in  any  degree  of  ease  and 
comfort  there  were  ninety  who  had  nothing  beyond  the 
commonest  necessaries  of  life.  Yes,  there  shall  be  a  new 
South,  and  prominent  men  from  the  North  must  be 
brought  to  testify  to  it,  even  though  their  testimony  must 
in  the  nature  of  the  case  be  untrustworthy  and  valueless. 

To  doubt  is  to  be  damned,  is  true  in  other  things 
besides  religion,  and  so  to  doubt  the  current  charming 
presentations  of  Southern  growth  and  prosperity  is  to  bring 
down  anathemas  upon  one's  head.  What!  the  South  not 
prosperous.  Impossible,  they  cry ;  and  the  individual  w^ho 
questions  is  an  idiot. 

Would  that  the  South  were  rich,  because  numberless 
blessings  follow  in  the  train  of  wealth,  just  as  numberless 
evils  follow  in  the  trail  of  poverty.  To  be  rich  is  to  be 
great,  mighty  and  powerful,  to  be  feared,  honored  and 
respected  like  the  United  States,  like  Great  Britain,  like 
Germany;  to  be  poor  is  to  be  weak,  wretched  and  mis- 
erable, to  be  despised,  plundered  and  imposed  upon,  like 
Spain,  Turkey,  or  Mexico.  If  claiming  to  be  rich  made 
the  South  rich,  none  could  make  louder  or  more  vehement 
claims  than  myself,  and  a  rejuvenated  giant  South  should 
ever  be  on  my  tongue ;  but  claims  and  boasts  are  vain  in 
the  face  of  nature,  which  demands  deeds  and  not  senti- 
ments, but  deeds  in  accordance  with  principles  of  well- 
established  economic  laws. 

Prosperity  is  an  inestimable  blessing,  and  to  obtain  it 
we  must,  like  the  husbandman  in  Scripture  who  sold 
everything  to  purchase  one  field,  make  every  sacrifice, 


8 


The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


and  be  deterred  by  no  difficulties;  but  like  all  other  good 
things  prosperity  has  its  price,  and  we  must  pay  the  full 
price  or  must  go  without,  and  the  greater  the  good  the 
greater  the  cost.  We  all  desire  prosperity,  and  we  have 
been  sighing  for  it  for  years,  and  yet  prosperity  lingers; 
but  if  we  have  it  not  it  is  because  we  have  not  sought 
aright — 'that  is,  not  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  nature. 

In  order  for  success  one  must  understand  fully  his 
position  as  well  as  be  willing  to  take  all  necessary  steps 
to  secure  success,  for  his  measures  cannot  be  appropriate 
if  this  knowledge  be  lacking. 

So  in  the  following  pages  I  will,  in  order  to  do  my 
mite  towards  placing  the  South  in  the  proud  and  influ- 
ential position  she  should  occupy,  endeavor  to  set  forth 
first,  her  actual  condition  and  conspiring  causes ;  and 
second,  I  will  seek  to  point  out  the  steps  necessary  to  be 
taken  in  order  to  attain  prosperity.  In  doing  the  first,  I 
will  not  draw  for  facts  upon  irresponsible  newspapers,  but 
upon  United  States  official  documents,  mainly  those  of 
the  census  of  1880,  or  upon  other  sources  which  are  uni- 
versally recognized  as  authorities.  The  principal  cause  , 
thereof — namely,  the  degradation  of  the  negro — will  be 
set  forth  at  length,  but  candidly  and  plainly,  so  that  if 
possible  others  may  see  as  I  do,  or  so  that  the  resulting 
discussion  may  clear  my  vision  and  that  of  others  seeing 
as  I  do. 

In  doing  the  second,  the  remedies  will  require  greater, 
space,  but  they  will  be  treated  in  the  same  plain,  candid 
and  fair  manner  as  in  discussing  the  condition  and  cause 
thereof  of  the  South;  and  all  will  be  done  solely  with  a 
view  to  letting  us  see  ourselves  as  we  really  are,  so  that 
perceiving  clearly  what  is  essential  to  be  done,  and  being 
willing  to  do  it,  we  may  attain  our  longed-for  prosperity, 
the  one  thing  needful  for  our  happiness  as  individuals, 
and  for  our  greatness  as  States. 


Vpoii  the  Llevatio/b  of  the  Xegro.  9 


Chapter  II. 

South  not  Prosijeroiis— Why? — Principal  Cause  Degradation  of  the 
Xegro — Elevation  of  the  Xegro  Urged  on  Economic  Grounds, 
not  on  Grounds  of  Justice  or  Religion. 

As  many  streams  are  required  to  make  the  river,  so 
many  causes  are  required  to  produce  prosperity,  and  as 
tlie  river  is  great  in  proportion  to  tlie  number  of  streams 
flowing  togetlier,  so  prosperity  is  great  in  proportion  to 
thie  number  of  causes  harmoniously  co-operating. 

Tliere  are  many  causes  conspiring  to  tlie  poverty  or  lack 
of  prosperity  of  the  South,  the  principal  of  which  are  a 
General  Prevalence  of  Ignorance — a  General  Disregard  of 
Human  Life — a  General  Lack  of  Economy  and  Self-denial ; 
but  great  as  these  causes  are,  a  greater  and  more  far- 
reaching  cause  of  all  is  the  Degradation  of  the  Xegro,  who, 
being  our  principal  source  of  labor,  is  our  principal 
dependence  for  prosperity. 

Each  of  these  causes  would  greatly  retard  the  pros- 
perity of  the  South,  or  indeed  of  any  country,  but  all  of 
them  combined,  destructive  as  they  would  necessarily  be 
to  prosperity,  are  not  as  serious  and  as  fatal  as  the  last 
cause,  namely  :  The  Degradation  of  the  Xegro.  Like  a 
malignant  cancer  which  poisons  the  whole  system,  this 
degradation  seems  to  intensify  all  the  other  drawbacks 
under  which  w^e  labor.  Thus  general  ignorance  is  inten- 
sified by  the  gross  ignorance  of  all  the  blacks  and  of  the 
whites  nearest  them  in  social  and  financial  condition  ;  the 
general  disregard  of  human  life  is  intensified  by  the 
slight  regard  in  wdiich  a  negro's  life  is  held,  and  the 
whites,  regarding  the  negro's  life  of  little  sanctity,  natu- 


10  Tlic  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


i\illy  regard  all  life  as  of  little  value,  and  therefore  freely 
take  each  other's  life ;  and  the  general  lack  of  economy 
and  self-denial  is  naturally  intensified  by  the  careless, 
wasteful  and  negligent  manner  in  which  the  negro,  upon 
whom  we  are  mainly  dependent  for  labor,  usually  does 
his  work.  The  negro  is  an  extremely  defective  tool,  and 
no  man,  whether  planter,  carpenter,  or  what  not,  can  con- 
tinue constantly  to  use  wretched  implements  without 
becoming  wasteful  and  negligent  himself,  and  without 
disregarding  economy.  We  may  remove  all  the  other 
hindrances  to  prosperity ;  the  whites  may  become  well 
educated ;  we  may  hold  human  life  in  scrupulous  regard 
and  may  become  models  of  economy  and  self-denial,  but 
if  the  blacks  are  to  be  left  to  grovel  in  their  present 
degraded  condition,  even  then  prosperity  would  be  meas- 
urably in  default,  because  the  six  million  negroes,  remain- 
ing degraded,  would  prove  an  incubus  upon  the  whites, 
who  would  be  in  imminent  danger  of  impoverishment  by 
the  thieving  of  such  multitudes,  whose  highest  and  only 
ambition  would  be  to  live  without  work  at  the  expense  of 
those  who  were  responsible'  for  their  degradation.  But 
then  let  education  be  generally  disseminated  among  the 
whites  as  it  is  in  some  of  the  other  States,  let  human  life 
be  as  well  protected  as  in  a  really  civilized  community- 
England,  for  example — -and  let  economy  and  self-deiiial 
prevail  as  in  the  New  England  States,  the  elevation  of 
the  negro  would  follow  as  a  matter  of  course,  or  rather  it 
would  go  along  'pari passu  with  the  elevation  of  the  whites 
themselves,  and  his  degradation  as  a  race  would  become 
a  matter  of  history. 

Although  justice — and  we  should  always  bear  in  mind 
that  justice  is  a  stern  virtue  that  will  sooner  or  later 
avenge  herself  upon  her  violators,  though  at  the  same 
time  she  never  fails  to  honor  and  reward  those  who 
respect  her  requirements — although  justice  demands  that 
the  whites  elevate  the  negroes,  for  in  the  light  of  morality 


Upon  tlie  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


11 


we  stand  responsible  for  their  welfare,  their  elevation  will 
not  be  advocated  on  any  such  ground,  nor  on  the  ground 
of  religion  either,  but  simply  on  economic  grounds,  on 
the  ground  of  advantage  to  the  whites.  Just  as  we  would 
urge  the  South  to  improve  its  animals,  tools,  methods  of 
l)lanting,  (fee,  so  that  they  may  derive  the  more  good 
from  their  labor  and  capital,  so  w^e  urge  the  elevation  of 
the  negro,  because  the  better  men  and  citizens  they  are 
the  more  we,  the  whites,  can  in  the  end  make  out  of 
them. 

That  is  ver}'  hard  doctrine,  perhaps,  but  we  must 
remember  that  facts  themselves  are  hard  things,  and  that 
they  never  think  of  accommodating  themselves  to  either  our 
desires  or  our  fancies.  We  would  like  a  more  comfort- 
ing" (as  the  women  w^ould  say)  doctrine,  did  not  reading, 
observation  and  experience  show  that  morality  and  even 
religion  are  very  poor  advocates,  unless  they  can  sh  ow^  to 
their  listeners  that  material  benefit  is  on  their  side.  Con- 
vinced, therefore,  as  I  must  be  that  benefit  is  the  only 
safe  and  sound  ground  to  base  an  argument  upon  ;  for  if 
a  thing  does  not  benefit  or  afford  us  pleasure  in  some 
way,  how  can  it  interest  us?  I  shall  address  all  my  » 
arguments  to  prove  not  only  that  the  prosperity  of  the 
South  wdll  be  increased  by,  but  that  it  is  dependent  upon, 
the  elevation  of  the  negro,  and  if  it  is  not  soishown,  then 
this  effort  wdll  be  in  vain,  and  if  it  cannot  be  so  shown, 
then  all  effort  to  elevate  the  negro  will  be  in  vain.  If  the 
southern  people  cannot  be  shewn  that  his  elevation  is  for 
their  interest,  then  the  negro  must  forever  grovel,  but  if 
it  is  demonstrated  as  w^e  go  along  that  his  elevation  is 
essential  to  our  welfare,  then  as  sensible  people  w^e  should 
throw  aside  the  thickly-incrusted  prepossessions  or  preju- 
dices of  centuries  and  hasten  the  day  when  we  shall  have 
made  the  negro  a  free  man  (for  as  long  as  he  labors  under 
any  but  natural  disabilities  he  is  little  better  than  a  serf), 
and  therefore  a  worthy  and  competent  co-worker  in  the 


12  The  Prosperity  of  ilie  South  Dependent 

race  for  prosperity,  which  we  have  long  seen  through  a 
glass  darkly,  but  which,  like  an  ignis  fatum,  has  eluded 
our  grasp,  and  which  will  continue  to  as  long  as  the 
negro  is  degraded  and  without  hope  of  rising  above  his 
present  status — -a  status  of  perpetual  inferiority  and 
subordination. 

In  discussing  this  question,  which  is  the  gravest  and 
,  most  momentous  confronting  the  South,  now  happily 
mostly  local,  but  which  before  long  will  become  national 
if  the  South  proves  herself  incapable  or  unwilling  to 
solve  it,  I  shall  set  forth — first,  the  material  condition  of 
the  South,  drawn  from  well-established  sources,  which 
will  be  seen  to  be  one  of  great  poverty — certainly  of  com- 
parative poverty ;  and,  second,  after  showing  the  state  of 
education  I  will  point  out  at  greater  length  the  steps 
which  are  necessary  to  convert,  by  elevating  the  negro, 
this  poverty  into  prosperity. 

It  may  seem  both  invidious  and  presumptuous  to 
attempt  this  role,  but  while  frankly  admitting  that  I  may 
be  presumptuous,  my  Southern  ancestry,  birth,  rearing, 
residence  and  interest  preserve  me  from  the  charge  of 
invidiousness;  but  if  my  directing  attention  to  the  poverty 
and  illiteracy  of  the  South  be  thought  by  many  to  be 
unpatriotic,  or  if  my  opposition  to  our  present  undemo- 
cratic condition  of  affairs  be  considered  treasonable,  I 
will  then  patiently  bear  the  odium  attached  to  such 
charges. 


UjJO'i  tJte  Elevation  of  the  Xegro, 


13 


Chapter  III. 

South  not  Prosperous — Exaraple  of  Georgia — H:  r  Poverty — Con- 
trary Example  of  Palatinate  in  1674 — Few  or  no  Savings 
Banks — Few  otlier  Banks — Proportion  of  Bailways — ^^''ery 
Few  Manufactures  and  they  very  Crude — Statistics  Thereof — 
Production  of  Iron  and  Steel  in  1887 — Manufactures  of  Thh'-= 
teen  Southern  Cities — Summary  of  Aggregated  Wealth. 

That  tlie  South  ought  to  be  the  richest  section  of  tiie 
E'nited  States  goes  without  saying,  for  it  occupies  nc: 
only  a  broad  and  fertile  territory,  but  it  lies  beneath  a 
sun  that  produces  in  abundance  many  of  the  most  valua- 
ble productions  of  commerce.  In  addition  to  the  great 
staff  of  life — bread — tobacco  and  cotton  flourish  here  as 
nowhere  else,  and  rice,  sugar,  and  naval  stores  add  mil- 
lions annually  to  its  wealth,  but  although  this  production 
has  been  going  on  uninterruptedly  for  more  than  twenty 
years  her  people  are  not  rich,  but  on  the  contrary  are  very 
poor.  They  are  not  only  burdened  with  debt  up  to  their 
full  capacity  for  borrowing,  but  much,  if  not  the  greatest 
part,  of  their  crops  is  made  by  loans,  beginning  with  the 
time  of  planting.  Their  homes  are  not  only  imsupplied 
with  many  of  the  most  essential  comforts,  but  their  plan- 
tations are  ill  sujDplied  with  stock  and  implements,  their 
cribs  and  smokehouses  are  mostly  empty,  their  fences 
have  disappeared,  and  their  dwellings  and  farm -build- 
ings are  not  only  indifferent,  but  they  present  a  general 
appearance  of  neglect  and  too  often  of  dilapidation. 
The  want  of  accumulated  capital  is  extreme,  and  for  at 
least  six  months  of  the  year  money,  instead  of  being  a 
reality,  is  rather  a  thing  of  memory  and  of  hope,  or  of 


14  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


the  past  and  the  future,  with  the  greater  part  of  the  peo- 
ple. But  as  an  ounce  of  prevention  is  worth  a  pound  of 
cure,  so  well-attested  facts,  even  though  they  be  few,  are 
worth  libraries  of  speculations  and  assertion,  we  will 
therefore  bid  adieu  to  assertions  which  are  of  no  authority, 
and  will  resort  to  facts  to  substantiate  our  statements. 

We  have  all  heard  of  Georgia,  of  her  great  progress  and 
prosperity  ;  and  as  she  has  been  held  up  as  a  model  to  all 
the  other  States,  we  of  the  South  have  come  to  recognize 
her  authority  on  both  material  and  moral  matters  with 
the  utmost  reverence  and  humility ;  we  can  therefore  all 
rely  upon  what  Georgia  does  and  says.  We  will,  then, 
refer  to  Georgia,  and  trust  what  she  says  regarding  the 
material  condition  of  her  people,  and  her  Comptroller- 
General,  in  his  annual  report  for  the  year  ending  Sep- 
tember 30th,  1886,  shall  be  the  spokesman. 

But  before  proceeding  to  the  analysis  of  this  report,  let 
us  remark  that  it  was  made  twenty  years  after  the  close 
of  the  war,  in  whicli  Georgia  was  not  specially  scourged 
except  along  the  line  of  Sherman's  march.  Let  us  also 
remark  that  Turenne  in  1674  devastated  the  Palatinate 
to  such  a  degree  that  in  the  language  of  General  Sheridan 
"  a  crow  flying  across  it  was  compelled  to  carry  his  rations," 
even  the  fruit  trees  and  the  vines  being  destroyed,  yet 
twenty  years  thereafter  scarcely  a  trace  of  her  horrible 
devastation  was  visible.  Now,  bearing  further  in  mind 
that  this  report  was  made  twenty  years  after  the  war,  we 
will  expect  to  find  that  Georgia  had  repaired  her  ravages 
quite  as  well  as  had  the  pauper  labor  of  the  Palatinate. 
According  to  the  report,  we  find  the  following  condition 
of  wealth : 

Assessed  value  of  personal  joroperty  1123,141,286  00 

"  "     per  capita,  addiiio;  15  per  cent.  \ 

increase  from  1880  to  1886  .  .  ./ 

"  "     per  capita— whites   124  47 

"  "       "       "    — negrocH   6  54 

"         .'i     whites— household  and  kitchen  \  ^2  30 

furniture  ' 


upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro, 


15 


Assessed  value  whites — plantation    and  me- 


chanical toojs 


} 


^  5  65 

24  68 
2  60 


>"VJ_iiLta — live  BLuuiv  tiii  i^iiius    .  . 

negroes — live  stock  all  kinds  . 
negroes — plantation  and  me- 
chanical tools  


whites — live  stock  all  kinds 


negroes — household  and  kit- 
chen furniture  


} 

} 


1  03 


31 


Personal  property  is  taken  because  real  estate  remain- 
ing substantially  the  same  is  not,  in  agricultural  commu- 
nities,  subject  to  much  change  of  value. 

Now  reflect  for  a  moment.  Here  are  people  laboring 
for  twenty  years,  and  granted  they  began  with  no  personal 
property,  they  have  gathered  wealth  at  the  annual  rate 
per  head  of  $3.50,  or  at  the  rate  of  $6.18  for  the  whites ; 
and  counting  a  family  as  five  persons,  each  famil}^  has 
accumulated  annually  $17.50,  or  $30.90  for  each  white 
family.  But  this  is  on  the  supposition  that  everybody 
started  as  they  came  into  the  world — with  not  a  rag  to 
their  back,  with  not  a  chair,  table  or  bed,  with  not  a  pan, 
]  1  ite  or  dish,  with  not  a  wagon,  plow  or  hoe,  with  not  a 
horse,  cow  or  hog — in  fact,  with  nothing.  But  as  it  is 
scarcely  possible  to  conceive  of  a  respectable  white  family 
without  at  least  $61.50  of  household  and  kitchen  furni- 
ture, or  of  a  plantation  without  at  least  $28.25  of  imple- 
ments and  tools,  or  without  $123  of  live  stock  of  all  kinds, 
one  fairly  good  mule  being  worth  that,  it  is  not  unreason- 
able to  affirm  that  the  people  of  Georgia  had  not  added 
materially  to  their  wealth  during  the  twenty  years  pre- 
ceding 1886. 

But  it  has  been  claimed  that  the  negroes  of  Georgia 
have  also  prospered  very  much.  What  does  the  report 
say?  The  negroes  at  least  began  with  no  accumulated 
propert}^  According  to  the  report  each  colored  family 
possessed  in  1886  an  average  of  $5.13  of  house  hold  and 
kitchen  furniture,  of  $1.55  of  mechanical  and  farming 
implements,  and  of  $13  of  live  stock  of  all  kinds. 

Truly  prosperity  ran  riot  with  the  colored  brother,  an(\ 


16  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


being  so  v/ealthy,  it  is  not  surprising  that  we  have  the  pret- 
ty general  complaint  that  the  negro  is  lazy  and  wont  work. 

If  w^e  find  no  prosperity  in  Georgia  it  will  be  vain  to 
look  for  it  in  the  other  Southern  States,  and  we  will  not, 
therefore,  adduce  any  more  statistics,  although  they  are  to 
hand  in  abundance.  But  granting  prosperity  for  the 
whites,  who  can  deny  that  the  blacks,  who  comprise  forty 
per  cent,  of  the  population,  are  in  the  very  deptlis  of 
poverty,  and  therefore  of  degradation ;  for  poverty  and 
degradation  are  always  twin  sisters,  and  that  if  anything 
has  been  done  to  elevate  them  the  attempt  has  been  a 
lamentable  failure.  Leaving  now  individual  let  us  come 
to  general  or  aggregate  wealth,  a  few  particulars  of  which 
must,  for  want  of  space,  suffice.    And  first — 

SAVINGS  BANKS. 

In  settled  countries  where  the  land  has  been  cleared, 
fences  made  and  houses  built,  if  there  is  any,  certainly  if 
there  is  much  prosperity,  money  will  accumulate,  and  it 
will  find  its  w^ay  into  savings  banks,  and  cause  their 
formation  if  there  are  none  or  not  enough  already  exist. 
In  new  States  like  Florida,  Texas  and  Arkansas,  savings 
banks  may  not  be  expected,  because  prosperous  people 
can  find  better  uses  for  their  money  in  buying  lands  and 
opening  new  farms  than  in  putting  it  in  savings  banks. 
But  in  the  other  eight  Southern  States,  where  land  is  all 
appropriated,  the  accumulations  that  follow  thrift  would 
almost  certainly  find  their  way  into  savings  banks,  and  if 
savings  banks  do  not  appear  and  flourish,  it  may  be 
accepted  as  infallible  evidence  that  there  is  little  or  no 
prosperity.  Now  what  do  we  find.  The  United  States 
Comptroller  of  the  Treasury  in  his  report  for  1885-6 
reports : 

Deposits  in 
Savings  Banks. 

Southern  States  

All  other  States   11,141,530,578  00 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


17 


There  were  doubtless  some  few  savings  banks  in  the 
South,  but  none  to  attract  the  attention  of  an  official, 
w^ho  is  himself  a  southerner. 

Banks  are  another  evidence  of  prosperity,  for  the  accu- 
mulations of  prosperity  naturally  seek  investment  in 
banks.  The  following  is  the  report  of  United  States 
Comptroller  of  the  Currency,  December  4,  1886  : 


Capital  stock  paid  in 
Surplus  fund  .  .  .  . 
Undivided  profits .  • 

Total  


So.  States.  Other  States. 

131,065,450  CO  1517,175,280  00 

8,262,139  00  148,987,051  00 

4,483,274  00  02,020,200  00 


$43,810,863  00   1728,182,551  00 


Banks  are  not  onl}^  evidences  of  prosperity,  but  they 
are  in  turn  causes  of  prosperity.  What  shall  we  say, 
then,  of  the  prosperity  of  the  South  when  it  possesses  six 
per  cent,  of  banking  capital  for  twenty-six  per  cent,  of 
population  ? 

Railroads  are  also  an  index  of  wealth,  and  what  is 
their  testimony?  The  highest  authority  (Poor's  R.  R. 
Manual  for  1886)  reports  : 

So.  States.    All  other  States. 
Total  investments   $1,108,428,000  $7,230,858,000 

This  is  a  better  showing  than  in  savings  banks  and 
banks,  for  it  is  thirteen  per  cent,  to  twenty-six  per  cent,  of 
population.  But  this  showing  is  delusive,  because  it  is 
well  known  that  almost  all  southern  roads  have  been 
built  with  northern  capital,  and  that  not  five  per  cent,  of 
the  total  of  $1,108,428,000  is  owned  in  the  South.  Except 
as  occupying  southern  soil  and  as  sources  of  taxation, 
railroads  are  scarcely,  more  southern  in  origin  and  owner- 
ship than  if  they  were  located  in  one  of  the  planet?. 

Manufactures  are  other  evidences  of  wealth,  and  what 
is  their  report?  Here  we  have  to  go  back  some  years  to 
the  United  States  census  of  1880,  but  this  evidence  will 


18 


The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


probably  be  demurred  to  by  devout  believers  in  a  New 
South,  for  they  will  say  manufactures  have  made  won- 
derful strides  since  then.  Such  objectors  may  be  correct, 
but  it  is  extremely  doubtful,  because  except  in  Birming- 
ham, Chattanooga  and  a  few  other  localities  an  observer 
can  behold  few  material  evidences  of  increase  of  manu- 
factures; certainly  nothing  commensurate  with  the 
growth  of  manufactures  in  most  of  the  other  States.  The 
last  census  reports :  Manufactures  in  the  South,  $240,- 
444,295;  in  all  other,  $5,129,223,411 ;  which  is  not  quite 
five  per  cent.,  against  twenty-six  per  cent,  of  population. 
Bearing  in  mind  that  southern  manufactures  were  mostly 
of  the  coarsest  character,  requiring  the  least  skill,  and 
therefore  earning  the  least  profit,  the  poverty  of  the  South 
under  this  head  is  all  the  more  striking  and  lamentable ; 
and  to  show  this,  the  following  digest  is  made  from  the 
report : 

Eleven  Southern  States. 


Cotton  manufactures   16,165,607 

Woolen  manufactures   2,336,097 

Flour  and  grist  mills   03,803,0^1 

Foundry  products   7,091,959 

Iron  and  steel  products   7,836,653 

Lumber  products  •  •  .  .  .  31,620,878 

Naval  stores   5,871,983 

Tobacco   20,138,340 


$154,865,058 

Observe  that  $63,803,041  are  credited  to  flour  and 
grist  mills,  which  are  mostly  small  neighborhood  affairs, 
and  most  of  this  amount  is  as  fairly  credited  to  manu- 
factures as  if  we  credited  to  bakeries  the  subsequent 
labors  of  the  women  in  converting  the  flour  and  the  meal 
into  loaf-bread,  biscuits,  ashcake  and  pone.  To  the  credit 
of  lumber  is  passed  $31,020,878.  This  is  one  of  the 
crudest  of  manufactures,  and  instead  of  classing  saw-mills 
under  the  head  of  wealth-[)roducers,  we  should  rather 
class  them  under  the  head  of  bankruptcy-breeders.  Only 


upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


19 


$13,502,224  go  to  the  credit  of  textiles,  and  onl}^ 
1 1 1,928,(3 12  to  iron  and  steel  and  their  varied  products. 

The  difference,  according  to  census,  between  cost  of 
manufactures  and  what  the  manufactures  sell  for  is 
twenty  per  cent.  Therefore,  in  the  census  year  seventy- 
four  per  cent,  of  population  added  about  $1,000,000,000 
to  their  wealth,  while  the  twenty-six  per  cent,  of  Southern 
population  added  only  $48,000,000. 

This  was  in  1880,  and  probably  we  may  hear  a  chorus 
of  "  patriotic  "  Southerners  and  enthusiastic  believers  in 
a  new  South  scornfully  exclaim,  "  1880 !  oh,  yes,  1880  !  " 
and  most  probably  these  gentlemen  will  exclaim :  "  Talk 
at  this  stage  of  the  world,  when  the  South  is  taking  such 
giant  strides,  of  1880 ;  you  had  as  well  talk  to  us  about 
the  time  when  Captain  John  Smith  was  having  his 
romantic  adventure  with  old  Powhatan  and  his  lovely 
Pocahontas. 

But  although  we  have  no  late  census  to  refer  to,  we 
have  official  figures  of  the  iron  industry,  the  one  in 
w^hich  the  South  is  said  to  have  accomplished  most,  so 
let  us  see  what  these  figures  say  : 


1880. 

Production  Pig  Iron  .  .  . 

South. 

Whole  Country. 

Percentage. 

Tons. 

Tons. 

South. 

207,798 

4,295,414 

5 

1887. 

Production  Pig  Iron  .  .  . 
Production  Steel,  all  kinds 

767,791 

7,187,206 
3,739,760 

10 
0 

Here  is  a  wonderful  progress,  worthy  of  being  cele- 
brated with  a  full  band  of  jewsharps.  Here  is  the  South 
with  enough  coal  and  iron,  almost  locked  in  each  others 


20 


The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


embrace,  to  supply  the  world  with  iron  at  the  very  lowest 
cost,  and  yet  in  seven  years  she  has  added  560,000  tons 
to  her  product,  or  an  additional  five  par  cent,  on  the  total 
production  of  the  whole  country.  While  the  Soutii  was 
adding  500,000  tons  the  rest  of  the  country  added 
2,900,000  tons.  Observe  that  the  South  is  not  credited 
with  a  pound  of  the  3,739,760  tons  of  steel  produced  in 
1887. 

The  census  of  1880  give3  in  minute  detail  the  manu- 
factures of  over  one  hundred  principal  cities  and  the  fol- 
lowing summary  is  presented :  Thirteen  southern  cities, 
total  manufactures,  $77,191,000,  of  which 

Richmond  manufactured   $  20,790,000 

New  Orleans       "   18,808,000 

Nashville           "   •  8,597,000 

Atlanta              "             .   •   4,862,000 

Memphis           "    4,413,000 

As  a  comparison  the  following  is  interesting : 

New  York  manufactured  %  472,926,000 

Philadelphia  "    324,345,000 

Chicago  "    249,023,000 

Brooklyn  "    177,220,000 

Boston  "    130,532,000 

St.  Louis  "    114,333,000 

Cincinnati  "    105,259,0!  !0 

Pittsburgh  "    75,915,000 

It  will  be  observed  that  New  York  city  manufactured 
about  twice  as  much  as  the  whole  Soutli,  and  Cliicago  as 
much,  and  wlien  the  grade  of  manufactures  of  the  two 
sections  is  considered,  the  comparison  will  be  all  the 
more  striking.  Note,  also,  that  Pittsburgh  manufactured 
nearly  as  mucli  as  thirteen  principal  southern  cities. 

"Patriotism"  would  say  hide  all  these  uncomplimen- 
tary facts,  but  common  sense  saj^s  it  is  better  to  look  our 
deficiencies  squarely  in  the  face,  for  we  will  never  over- 
come our  shortcomings  until  we  are  convinced  of  their 
existence.  Common  sense  beats  "  patriotism "  every 
time,  and  while  things  frequently  go  backwards  under 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro.  21 

the  lead  of  "  patriotism,"  which  is  only  a  longer  word  for 
"  gush,"  they  are  always  pushing  forward  under  the 
guidance  of  common  sense.  "  Know  thyself  "  is  not  only 
essential  for  the  individual,  but  also  for  the  State. 

At  the  close  of  this  branch  of  our  subject  we  condense 
our  facts  into  a  summary,  so  that  we  may  see  our  condi- 
tion at  a  glance. 

EXHIBIT  OF  INDIVIDUAL  WEALTH. 

Value  per  head  personal  property  in  Georgia  $  70  00 

"         "        for  whites  S  124  47 

"         "        for  blacks  .  .  •   6  64 

"         "        household  and  kitchen  faraiture,  whites  .  12  30 

"         "               "         "                    "          blacks  .  1  03 

"         "        farm  and  mechanical  tools,  whites  ....  5  65 

"     Macks  ....  31 

"         "        live  stock,  all  kinds,  whites   24  68 

"         "       "            "      blacks   2  60 

EXHIBIT  OF  xVGGREGATE  VrEALTH. 


SOURCES. 

South. 

other  States. 

Per  Cent,  ofi 
Southern  | 

Per  Cent. 
South. 

Population.] 

Savings  Banks.  .  .  . 

1,141,530,578 

26 

National  Banks  .  .  . 

43^810,863 

728,182,551 

26  ' 

6 

State  B'ksandbankrs 

very  little 

nearly  all 

26  ! 

trace 

Telegraph  stock  .  .  . 

nothing 

ail 

26  i 

L.  F.  &  M.  Ins.  stocks 

very  little 

nearly  all 

26  1 

trace 

Vessel  property  .  .  . 

very  little 

nearly  all 

26  ! 

trace 

Manufactures,  1880  . 

240,444,495 

5,129,223,411 

26  ' 

5 

Pig  Iron,  1880— tons  . 

207,798 

4,097,616 

26 

5 

Pig  Iron,  1887— tons  . 

767,791 

6  419,515 

26 

10 

Steel,  1887- tons.  .  . 

3,739,760 

26  1 

Railroads  

1 , 1 08 , 428 , 000  7, 230 , 858 , 0 no 

26  1 

13 

22  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


Chapter  IV. 


GROWTH  OF  THE  CITIES. 

Growth  of  Cities  and  Causes  Thereof — Examples — Growth  of 
Thirty  Southern  Cities  and  of  Four  Oliio  and  Four  New  Jer- 
sey Cities.  * 

But  the  optimists,  though  staggered  probably  by  the 
preceding  unfavorable  statistics,  will,  in  proof  of  their 
claim  of  the  great  progress  and  prosperity  of  the  South, 
point  triumphantly  to  the  growth  of  the  cities. 

Well,  granting  all  claimed,  what  does  it  amount  to, 
unless  it  can  be  shown  that  the  growth  of  the  cities  is  the 
outgrowth  of  the  prosperity  of  the  farming  and  rural  dis- 
tricts, for  it  by  no  means  follows  that  growth  of  cities 
always  means  the  prosperity  of  the  State?  Generally,  per- 
haps, growth  of  cities  means  prosperity  of  the  State,  but 
sometimes  it  means  decay.  In  the  case  of  England  and 
Scotland  their  fifty-three  cities,  ranging  in  population  by 
census  of  1881  from  50,762  to  3,832,441,  means  prosper- 
ity, but  the  twenty-four  cities  of  Italy  (census  1881),  rang- 
ing in  population  from  50,651  to  494,314,  and  the  fifteen 
cities  of  Spain  (census  1877),  ranging  from  49,855  to  397,- 
690,  does  not  mean  either  prosperity  or  progress,  for  both 
Italy  and  Spain  are  extremely  poor,  backward  and  stag- 
nant. 

There  are  other  causes  than  prosperity  to  promote  the 
growth  of  cities.  Decay  also  promotes  their  growth,  or  at 
least  temporarily,  and  cities  sometimes  linger  long  after 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


23 


the  country  is  dead.  Constantinople  was  a  populous  city 
long  after  the  Eastern  Empire  was  a  mere  shadow,  and 
Constantinople  is  still  a  populous  city,  although  the  Otto- 
man Empire  has  been  moribund  the  last  one  hundred 
years. 

In  a  declining  or  decaying  State,  with  agriculture  on 
the  wane  and  social  order  disturbed,  there  is  a  constant 
influx  into  the  cities — where  there  is  more  life  and  activity, 
more  society,  and  especially  more  security.  In  such  a 
State,  the  younger  and  more  ambitious  desert  the  villages 
and  the  country  because  they  have  a  lessening  field  for 
their  energies;  professional  men  of  all  kinds  do  the  same; 
families  of  means  and  culture,  tiring  of  a  country  life  con- 
stantly becoming  harder  and  more  unsocial,  follow  next; 
then  follow  the  timid,  who  dread  the  relaxations  of  legal 
restraint  upon  the  improvident  and  badly  disposed,  and 
then  those  seeking  the  advantages  of  education  which  con- 
stantly diminish  in  such  a  State.  And  along  with  what 
may  be  termed  the  higher  classes,  the  mechanical  and 
laboring  people  who  find  work  becoming  scarcer,  and  wages 
smaller  and  more  uncertain,  also  flock  to  the  cities  where, 
if  anywhere,  employment  is  to  be  had.  And  thus  it  is 
that  cities  grow  in  decaying  countries. 

Now,  most  of  these  causes  of  increase  of  our  cities  have 
been  operating  for  the  past  twenty  years,  and  they  have 
not  yet  exhausted  their  forces.  Thousands  and  tens  of 
thousands,  yea  hundreds  of  thousands,  of  our  most  cul- 
tured and  refined  people  have  deserted  their  ancestral  homes 
and  have  settled  in  Southern  cities  and  elsewhere  in  the 
United  States,  and  few  or  none  have  taken  their  places. 
The  writer  knows  of  neighborhoods  that  have  been 
deserted  almost  en  masse  by  their  former  wealthy  inhabi- 
tants, and  plantations,  where  twenty  3'ears  ago  negroes 
were  to  be  found  by  the  four  score,  are  now  almost  ten- 
antless  wastes.  And  let  any  city  resident  of  twent}^  years' 
standing  inquire  who  his  neighbors  and  acquaintances 


24  The  ProsjJerity  of  the  South  DeiJendent 


are,  and  he  will  be  astonished  at  the  numbers  who  have 
within  that  time  from  some  one  of  the  foregoing  causes 
emigrated  from  the  country;  and  let  any  housekeeper 
inquire  into  the  origin  of  the  servants  he  employs,  and  he 
will  find  that  fully  half  are  country-bred.  But  the  city's 
gain  has  been  the  country's  loss,  for  few  have  taken  the 
places  of  those  wdio  have  turned  their  backs  upon  their 
birthplaces  and  family  burying-grounds. 

But  have  our  cities  really  increased  much  in  popu- 
lation? Let  us  see.  But,  unfortunately,  in  order  to  do 
so,  w^e  must  go  back  to  antiquity — namely,  the  census  of 
1880 — for  this  authority  will  be  repudiated  by  the  opti- 
mists of  these  modern  days — to-wit :  the  year  of  grace, 
1888.  They  will  claim  enormous  gains  since  1880,  and 
they  are  doubtless  correct  as  to  a  considerable  increase  in 
many  instances ;  but  when  we  remember  how  easy  it  is 
to  make  claims  when  no  proof  is  demanded,  or  when  no 
disproof  is  ready  at  hand,  we  should  not  be  surprised  at 
the  great  claims  of  increase  that  every  city  makes,  and 
discount  them  accordingly.  There  is  among  the  denizens 
of  every  city — and  we  might  say  of  every  village,  too— 
a  sense  of  personal  responsibility  for  the  growth  of  such 
place;  there  is  a  feeling  of  pride  if  the  place  is  thought 
to  be  growing,  and  of  mortification  if  it  is  thought  to  be 
stationary,  or  even  growing  slowly,  and  in  order  to  nour- 
ish their  pride  and  to  conceal  their  mortification,  they 
all  naturally  fall  into  the  habit  of  exaggerating  the 
growth  of  their  city,  town,  or  village.  If  the  place  of 
their  residence  is  found  by  accurate  census  to  have  grown 
and  to  be  still  growing  rapidly,  so  that  it  outstrips  other 
cities  that  they  had  been  jealous  of,  then  a  regular  civis 
Romamis  sum  feeling  takes  possession  of  them,  and  they 
brag,  and  strut,  and  bluster,  as  if  they  had  performed  some 
great  deeds.  Who  does  not  remember  the  general  dissatis- 
faction with  the  last  census  when  it  failed  to  show  such 
growth  as  localities  and  cities  had  fondly  claimed? 


upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


25 


But  here  is  what  the  census  of  1880  says  as  to  the 
rowth  of  the  thirty  principal  Southern  cities: 

Pop.  in  ISSO.     Inc.  1870  to  1880. 


Alexandria   13,659  89 

Atlanta   87,409  15,620 

Augusta   21,891  6,502 

Chattanooga   12,892  6,799 

Charleston   49,984  1,028 

Columbus,  Ga   10,123  2,722 

Columbia   10,036  738 

Galveston   22,248  8  430 

Greenville,  S.  C   6,160  2,409 

Jackson,  Miss   5,204  970 

Jacksonville'   7,650  738 

Knoxville   9.6r-3  1,013 

Little  Eock   13,108  758 

Lvnchburg   15,959  9,134 

Macon   12,749  1,939 

Montgomerv   16,713  6,125 

Nashville.  T   43,350  17.485 

New  Orleans   216,090  24,672 

Norfolk   21,966  2,737 

Petersburg   21,656  2,706 

Portsmouth   13,390  800 

Richmond   63,600  12,562 

Raleigh   9,265  1,475 

Savannah   30,709  2,474 

San  Antonio   20,550  8,430 

Wilmington,  N.  C   17,350  3,904 


Total   142,259 

From  which  deduct  the  decrease  in  the  following  cities 
uring  the  same  decade — 

Memphis   33,592  6,634 

Mobile   29,132  2,902 

Natchez   7,058  1,999 

Vicksburg   11,814  629 


Total   12,164 


-and  we  have  a  net  increase  in  the  growth  of  the  thirty 
rincipal  Southern  cities  of  130,095. 
2 


23  The  Prosperity  of  the  Soutli  Dependent 

Compare  this  growth  with  that  of  the  four  Ohio  cities : 

Increase  1870  to  1880. 


Cincinnati   88,900 

Columbus   20,373 

Cleveland   67,816 

Toledo   18,583 


145,122 

or  with  that  of  the  four  Jersey  cities : 

Camden   21,604 

Jersey  City   88,176 

Newark   47,929 

Paterson,   29,694 


137,403 

In  view  of  these  facts,  will  it  not  seem  amusing  to  speak 
of  the  growth  and  prosperity  of  the  South?  And  even 
this  increase  is  partially  delusive,  because  the  census  of 
1870  was  taken  when  political  affairs  were  very  much  out 
of  joint,  when  the  work  w^as  committed  to  ignorant  and 
careless  hands,  and  was  therefore  very  imperfectly  done. 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  2segro. 


27 


Chapter  V. 


SOME  OF  THE  CAUSES  OF  THIS  LACK  OF  PROSPERITY. 

Why  Elevate  the  Xegro  ?  To  make  Him  an  Efficient  and  Profit- 
able Wealth-Producer — Must  Trample  or  Must  Elevate— Must 
make  him  a  Slave  or  a  Man — Labor  Corner-Stone  of  Wealth. 
Examples  of.  ISTo-Worker,  of  Unintelligent  Worker,  and  of 
Intelligent  Worker — South  can  expect  Prosperity  only  through 
Intelligent  Labor — United  States  would  still  be  a  Wilderness 
but  for  Intelligent  Labor. 

Having  sufficiently  demonstrated,  it  is  thought,  not 
only  the  comparative,  but  also  the  positive,  poverty  of  the 
South,  which  ought  in  many  respects  to  be  the  richest  . 
section,  let  us  now  proceed  to  point  out  some  of  the 
causes  of  this  poverty,  or  at  all  events  of  this  want  of 
prosperity. 

As  already  stated,  these  causes  are  many,  the  chief  of  ^  , 
which  are  illiteracy,  disregard  of  human  life,  lack  of 
economy  and  self-denial,  and  degradation  of  the  negro — 
already  mentioned,  and  vicious  economic  legislation,  one 
of  the  most  insidious,  because  generally  unsuspected,  of 
all  the  causes  sapping  our  prosperity.  ■  For  want  of 
space  only  one  of  these  causes  will  be  treated,  except 
incidentally,  but  as  this  cause  is  the  greatest  of  all,  and 
in  a  measure  underlies  all  but  the  last  cause,  by  hand- 
ling this  cause  properly,  the  whole  field  affecting  our 
prosperity  will  have  been  gone  over,  and  this  cause  is 
the  degradation  of  the  negro. 

But  the  question  really  to  be  considered,  is  not  the 
degradation  of  the  negro,  for  that  is  patent  to  all,  but 


28 .  The  Prosperity  of  vlg  South  Dependent 

the  elevation  of  the  negro,  for  it  is  by  his  elevation  alone 
that  we  are  to  secure  prosperity,  for  elevate  him  and  the 
other  evils  will  be  cured  during  the  process  of  his  eleva- 
tion. 

But  the  question  will  be  very  generally  asked.  Why 
elevate  the  negro  at  all?  Is  he  not  now  good  enough  to 
obey  us  obsequiously,  and  to  make  our  corn,  our  cotton, 
our  tobacco,  our  rice,  and  our  sugar?  What  more  do  we 
want  of  him?  The  reply  is  that  if  the  negro  is  forever 
to  remain  simply  the  instrument  for  doing  our  menial 
and  manual  work,  for  ploughing  and  sewing,  for  driving 
mules,  for  worming  tobacco  and  picking  cotton,  he  is 
already  too  elevated,  and  he  should  be  still  further  hum- 
bled and  degraded.  In  his  present  condition  he  has  some 
of  the  ideas  and  aspirations  of  a  freeman,  some  desires  for 
education,  and  he  has  almost  entire  control  of  his  per- 
sonal movements.  He  works  when  it  suits  him,  but  then 
he  may  idle  at  the  crisis  of  a  crop;  but  as  we  cannot  com- 
pel him  with  the  lash  to  work,  he  is  on  the  whole  neither 
a  profitable  laborer  for  himself  nor  for  an  employer.  To 
make  him  efficient,  and  to  make  him  work  the  crop  at 
the  proper  time,  in  spite  of  the  attractions  of  political 
and  religious  gatherings,  the  overseer  with  the  lash  must 
be  ever  before  his  eyes.  To  allow  the  negro  to  remain  as 
he  is,  is  for  him  a  still  "lower  deep"  in  the  social  scale, 
and  in  his  descent  he  drags  us  down  with  him. 

But  if  the  negro  is  to  become  an  intelligent  voter,  is 
to  be  a  citizen  capable  of  taking  a  sensible  part  in  the 
affairs  of  his  community,  and  to  be  a  valuable  co-worker 
in  adding  to  the  wealth  of  the  State,  then  we  have  a  vast 
deal  to  do  in  order  to  elevate  him.  To  make  him  our 
assistant  in  the  production  of  wealth,  the  negro  must  be 
made  to  work,  or  he  must  be  induced  by  ambition,  by 
the  hope  of  enjoying  in  full  the  fruits  of  his  labors,  to 
work  steadily  and  intelligently.  If  we  are  not  willing  to 
elevate  him,  we  should  set  to  work  resolutely  and  delib- 


U2')on  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


29 


erately  to  manacle  both  his  mind  and  hmbs,  and  to  cow 
him,  so  that  a  Httle  white  child  shall  control  a  thousand. 
AVe  T\dll  then  at  least  get  enough  out  of  him  to  supply 
his  few  physical  wants  and  to  enaLle  us  to  live  in  idle- 
ness and  comparative  comfort,  which  is  not  now  the  case. 
But  if  there  is  no  hope  of  our  ever  being  able  to  do  this, 
what  is  the  next  best  thing  for  us  to  do  for  our  own  good  ? 
Make  a  man  of  him.  But  this  can  be  done  only  by  * 
means  of  education  and  other  fostering  influences,  by  cul- 
tivating his  self-respect,  by  inspiring  his  hope,  by  letting 
him  see  that  the  land  of  his  birth  is  as  much  his  coun- 
try as  it  is  of  the  wealthiest  and  haughtiest  white.  Now 
he  is  not  only  an  alien,  but  an  inferior — in  reality  a  serf, 
in  the  land  of  his  nativity. 

We  must  trample,  or  we  must  elevate;  to  maintain  the 
status  quo  is  impossible.  To  trample  is  to  perpetuate  and 
intensif}^  the  poverty  and  stagnation  under  which  we 
groan;  to  elevate  is  to  make  the  South  rich,  happy  and 
strong. 

To  say  that  labor  is  the  corner-stone — yea,  the  whole 
foundation  too,  of  wealth — is  merely  to  utter  a  truism,  but 
how  few  of  us,  while  freely  acknowledging,  actually  realize 
this  fact.  For  example:  Place  a  man  and  his  family  in 
a  Garden  of  Eden,  where  fruits,  ripening  the  year  round, 
abound  on  every  hand,  and  where  the  climate  requires 
slight  clothing  and  shelter,  and  suppose  none  of  them 
labor.  If  they  had  been  supplied  Avith  tools,  house  and 
garments,  in  a  few  years  at  furthest,  they  would  be 
naked,  toolless  and  houseless,  for  these  things  wear  out  or 
decay;  or  if  they  had  not  been  supplied  with  these  things 
tliuv  would,  not  laboring,  at  the  end  of  ten,  fifty  or  a 
thousand  years  be  the  same  heluless.  useless  animals  they 
were  when  first  created. 

But  suppose  this  family,  willing  to  work  and  anxious  to 
improve  their  condition ;  but  suppose  through  ignorance 
the}'  do  not  knovv^  how  to  avail  themselves  of  the  forces 


30  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 

of  nature ;  or  suppose  they  misapplied  the  little  knowl- 
edge they  did  gain  through  painful  experience,  at  the  end 
of  ten,  fifty  or  a  thousand  years,  they  would  not  be  greatly 
better  off,  and  though  increased  in  numbers,  the  family 
would  most  probably  be  like,  and  no  further  advanced 
than  were  the  Indians,  when  our  ancestors  landed  and 
began  to  rob  them  of  their  homes  and  patrimony.  This 
family  was  industrious,  but  not  intelligent. 

But  suppose  this  same  family,  not  only  willing  to  work 
and  anxious  to  improve  their  condition,  but  intelligent 
also;  inquisitive  of  nature,  and  availing  themselves  of  the 
forces  of  air  and  v/ater  in  their  various  applications,  and 
prying  into  the  laws  of  mechanics  and  inventing  wea- 
pons, tools,  vehicles,  &c.,  &c.,  then  at  the  end  of  twenty 
years  this  family  will  have  made  considerable  advance  in 
their  condition;  at  the  end  of  a  century  or  two  it  will 
have  grown  into  a  barbarous  tribe  of  some  size  and 
importance,  and  at  the  end  of  a  millenium  it  will  have 
developed  into  a  wealthy  and  powerful  kingdom. 

By  this  simple,  though  perhaps  needless,  illustration, 
we  may  clearly  see  that  not  merely  labor,  but  intelligent 
labor,  is  the  sole  basis  of  prosperity,  and  that  prosperity 
is  proportionate  to  the  intelligence  of  labor.  This  is, 
however,  merely  preliminary  to  saying  that  the  South  is 
no  exception  to  this  universal  truth,  and  that  she,  like  all 
other  countries,  can  expect  prosperity  only  in  proportion 
to  the  intelligence  of  her  laborers.  And  by  intelligence 
is  not  meant  simply  book-learning,  for  frequently  those 
deeply  versed  in  books  are  learned,  but  they  are  far  from 
being  intelligent;  but  by  intelligence  is  meant  a  certain 
alertness  of  perception  which  enables  one  to  grasp  the 
situation  or  business  in  hand  so  as  to  avoid  the  difficul- 
ties or  hindrances  presented,  and  to  appropriate  the 
advantages  offered.  And  by  laborers  is  not  meant  sim- 
ply those  who  dig  and  plough  and  who  do  the  manual 
work  of  society,  but  also  those  who  think,  plan  and 
direct. 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


31 


Tims  the  first  agriculturists  being  ignorant  coald 
devise  no  better  aid  than  a  sharp,  hard  stick  for  stirring 
the  soil,  but  intelligence  aiding,  they  followed  this  with  a 
spade  made  of  the  shoulder-blade  of  some  wild  beast; 
this  was  followed  by  a  forked  limb  drawn  by  a  domestic 
animal,  but  intelligence  has  not  ceased  her  efforts, 
although  science  and  skill  seem  to  have  reached  perfec- 
tion in  the  modern  plow.  And  this  same  holds  true  with 
spinning,  weaving,  sewing,  locomotion,  &c.,  &c. — in 
almost  everything  intelligent  labor  has,  as  it  were, 
evolved  the  mighty  oak  out  of  the  tiny  acorn.  Intelli- 
gent labor  has  converted  the  Western  wilderness  into 
great  and  populous  States,  to  which  the  sceptre  of  empire 
is  being  fast  transferred ;  and  labor,  lacking  in  intelligence, 
has  left  the  South,  with  all  her  great  advantages  of  soil  and 
climate,  far  in  the  rear  of  States  born  but  yesterday.  But 
for  intelligence  mingling  with  and  directing  labor,  the 
world  would  yet  be  in  its  barbarous  and  savage  infancy, 
and  there  would  be  no  Gladstone  to  depict  its  youth,  and 
the  United  States,  instead  of  being  peopled  by  sixty  mil- 
lions of  the  happiest  human  beings,  would  3^et  be  the  her- 
itage of  cruel  tribes  numbering  less  perhaps  than  thepop- 
alation  of  our  chiefest  city. 

Education  and  intelligence  do  not  always  go  hand  in 
hand  in  the  individual,  but  education  is  the  parent  of 
intelligence  as  intelligence  is  the  parent  of  prosperity. 


32  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Depeiident 


Chapter  VI. 

Prosperity  in  Proportion  to  Intelligence— Illiteracy  in  Southern, 
Western,  and  New  England  States— Ignorance  is  Poverty  and 
Degradation  for  Whites  and  Blacks  Alike — Poverty  will  Con- 
tinue as  long  as  Ignorance — Prosperity  of  the  South  Bound 
up  with  Elevation  of  the  Laboring  Population. 

Al\  then  being  agreed  that  intelligent  labor  is  the  basis 
of  prosperity,  may  it  not  be  fairly  claimed  that  if  a  coun- 
try otherwise  favorably  situated  is  not  prosperous,  it  must 
be  because  its  labor  is  not  intelligent — and  by  labor  is 
meant  not  merely  those  who  drive  the  plow  and  swing 
the  scythe,  who  handle  the  saw  and  push  the  plane,  who 
ply  the  trowel  and  wield  the  hammer,  but  all  who  guide, 
plan  and  command — in  a  word,  all  who  aid  by  hand  or 
head  in  the  production  of  wealth?  And  not  only  will  all 
agree  that  intelligence  is  the  parent  of  prosperity,  but  all 
will  likewise  agree  that  negro  labor,  which  is  our  prin- 
cipal dependence,  is  extremely  deficient  both  in  education 
and  intelligence.  But  while  all  may  not  agree  that  the 
white  labor  of  tlie  South  is  greatly  lacking  in  mtelligence 
and  efficiency,  yet  those  who  are  acquainted  with  white 
labor  in  the  South  and  elsewhere  will  agree  that  even  our 
white  labor  is  inferior  to  similar  labor  elsewhere.  The 
simple  fact  that  (census  1880)  3,254,106  persons  out  of  a 
total  of  8,827,676  of  the  age  of  ten  and  upwards  could 
not  read,  is  strong  evidence  of  lack  of  general  intelli- 
gence. While  in  the  eight  Western  States,  from  Michigan 
to  Kansas,  the  proportion  of  illiterates  is  413,547  to 
10,785,090,  in  the  six  New  England  States  it  is  157,233 
to  3,219,856,  and  in  the  three  Middle  States  it  is  351,899 


Vpon  the  Elevation   of  the  ?^earo. 


38 


to  S,050;634.  This  exhibit  of  itself  may  very  well  explain 
the  great  difference  in  prosperity  and  progress  between 
South  and  Xorth  :  and  who  can  question  that  the  Soiitli 
would  be  infinitely  greater,  wealthier  and  happier  if  her 
people  were  educated  to  the  same  extent  as  are  the  people 
North  and  West. 

If,  as  heretofore  claimed,  there  are  causes  for  the  absence 
of  prosjjerity  in  the  South,  as  already  partially  set  forth, 
may  not  the  principal  cause  be  attributed  to  the  lack  of 
education  and  consequent  inefficiency  and  degradation  of 
our  laboring  population?  That  lack  of  education  to  the 
extent  we  see  prevalent  in  the  South,  is  the  parent  of 
inefficiency  and  degradation,  is  a  proposition  needing  no 
demonstration,  for  education  means  brightening  and 
sharpening  man's  mental  faculties,  purifying  his  morals 
and  manners,  and  refining  his  tastes.  The  individual 
devoid  of  education  is  little  above  the  plane  of  the  brutes, 
and  in  some  respects  he  is  worse;  for  he  has  vices  and 
passions  the  brute  is  a  stranger  to,  and  he  exercises  little 
or  no  restraint  in  their  indulgence.  Such  a  person  is 
satisfied  with  life  in  its  lowest  phases,  and  as  long  as  he 
lias  enough,  regardless  of  kind  or  qualitv,  to  fill  the  belly, 
lie  has  little  or  no  desire  to  improve  his  degraded  lot. 
This  applies  to  whites  as  well  as  to  blacks,  for  even  under 
the  shadow  of  our  boasted  seats  of  learning  at  Char- 
lottesville and  Lexington,  the  whites  of  the  neighboring 
mountains  are  noted  for  their  ignorance,  indigence  and 
degradation,  and  the  same  conditions  exist  in  the  moun- 
tain regions  extending  from  Virginia  to  the  plains  of 
Georgia. 

If,  then,  we  may  fairly  attribute  our  lack  of  prosperity 
to  the  ignorance  and  degradation  of  otir  laboring  popu- 
lation, does  it  not  naturally  and  inevitably  follow  that  our 
poverty  will  continue  as  long  as  the  ignorance  continues, 
and  does  it  not  equally  follow  that  our  expectation  of 
prosperity  will  be  a  delusion  until  we  elevate  this  poptt- 


34 


The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


lation?  And  does  it  not  further  follow  that  as  cause 
always  acts  logically  we  cannot  elevate  unless  we  take  the 
logical  and  necessary  steps  leading  to  that  end?  Nature 
demands  an  equivalent  always,  and  in  enforcing  her 
requirements  she  understands  what  Shy  lock,  sharp  Jew 
as  he  w^as,  never  learned — viz  :  how  to  get  her  pound  of 
flesh  without  one  drop  of  blood.  However  disagreeable, 
painful,  and  even  repugnant  things  may  be  to  us,  they 
are  all  equally  agreeable  to  nature,  and  when  nature  pre- 
scribes any  medicine  or  course,  however  nauseous  it  may 
be,  we  must  follow  it  or  ignominiously  fail.  Nature 
requires  that  if  we  want  bread  we  must  not  sow  wheat  in 
May,  or  if  we  want  cotton  we  must  not  plant  it  in  August; 
we  may  do  it,  but  if  we  do  nature  says:  Be  ye  hungry 
and  be  ye  naked.  Nature  never  allows  us  to  gather  figs 
when  we  have  sowed  thistles,  nor  grapes  Avhen  we  have 
planted  thorns ;  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  does  she  compel 
us  to  a  diet  of  thorns  and  thistles  when  we  have  dlilgenlly 
set  out  orchards  and  planted  vineyards. 

Thus  our  prosperity  is  bound  up  in  the  elevation  of  our 
laboring  population;  and  we  desire  prosperity.  Nature 
says  to  us,  you  are  welcome  to  prosperity,  just  as  much 
so  as  if  you  lived  in  New  York,  Massachusetts,  or  Ohio ; 
but  you  must  pay  the  price  thereof,  just  as  these  States 
have  done,  and  just  as  every  other  community  must  do. 
There  are  no  dead  heads  wdth  me.  The  South  replies : 
Yes,  w^e  want  prosperity,  but  we  want  it  by  letting  our 
laboring  population  remain  pretty  much  as  they  are. 
Nature  responds:  No,  that  won't  answer;  you  are  not 
even  paying  a  penny  for  an  immense  good ;  you  must  pay 
the  full  price,  which  is  the  elevation  of  the  people  who  do 
your  work.  AVe  can't  dodge  the  question,  and  we  can't 
fool  nature.  We  must  follow  her  full  prescription.  We 
may,  indeed,  throw  the  medicine  into  the  bucket,  but  if 
we  do  we  still  remain  invalids. 

Now  as  we  go  along  we  will  endeavor  to  point  out 


Vpon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro.  35 


clearly  what  must  be  done  to  elevate  our  laboring  popu- 
lation. Some  of  the  steps  we  have  already  taken — some 
in  full,  some  only  partially — but  we  are  still  proceeding  in 
the  right  way.  Other  steps  we  will  take  after  reflection 
and  a  little  time  given;  other  steps,  again,  will  require  a 
pretty  strong  effort,  but  they,  too,  will  be  taken ;  but  some 
we — that  is,  the  older  generations — will  positively  refuse 
to  take,  and  will  vehemently  swear  not  only  that  we  can- 
not, but  by  the  Eternal,  as  Old  Hickory  used  to  say,  we 
wdll  not  take  them. 

.  As  we  go  along  we  will  point  out  the  various  steps 
thought  necessary,  and  we  hope  that  careful  attention 
wdll  be  given,  and  that  we  may  candidly  weigh  all  that 
is  said,  for  if  we  do  not  we  might  in  our  wilfulness  over- 
look, or,  because  they  are  nauseous,  deliberately  refuse  to 
take  one  or  more  essential  steps,  and  thus  render  vain  all 
our  other  efforts.  If  what  is  said  be  not  of  truth  and 
wisdom,  it  will  come  to  naught,  and  the  writer  will  be 
the  only  sufferer,  or,  in  the  language  of  a  higher  authority : 
"  For  if  this  counsel  or  this  work  be  of  men,  it  will  come 
to  naught,  but  if  it  be  of  God,  ye  cannot  overthrow  it." 


36  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent, 


Chapter  VII. 


CAN  THE  NEGRO  BE  ELEVATED? 

Examples  of  Progress  Here— Field-Slaves  Improvement  on  Rela- 
tives in  Africa — House-Slaves  an  Improvement  on  Field - 
Slaves,  and  Freedmen  Great  Improvement  on  House-Slaves — 
Examples  of  Progress  in  Africa — Causes  of  Negro  Degrada- 
tion and  of  White  Elevation — Status  of  the  Negro  in  Europe 
and  Brazil— Full  Equality— Example  of  Society  ia  Rio— Pro- 
gress not  Inalienable  to  Whites. 

In  treating  of  the  elevation  of  our  laboring  population, 
I  shall  confine  myself  to  the  elevation  of  the  negro,  for 
though  the  elevation  of  our  illiterate  whites  is  also  essen- 
tial for  our  full  prosperity,  yet  their  elevation,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  in  a  measure  precedes  that  of  the  blacks.  The 
simple  willingness  of  the  whites  to  elevate  the  negro  at 
once  places  them  on  a  higher  plane,  and  is  a  great  step  in 
advance  for  them,  and  as  the  additional  necessary  meas- 
ures for  the  elevation  of  the  negro  are  carried  out,  so  their 
own  elevation,  proceeding  from  an  enlightened  and  libe- 
ralized public  sentiment,  will  also  progress  at  a  rapid  rate. 

It  is  a  highly  favorable  augury  of  a  bright  future  that, 
owing  to  a  liberalized  sentiment,  the  negro  has  in  some 
parts  of  the  South,  notably  in  Virginia,  been  greatly 
improved,  for  a  vast  interval  separates  the  negro  of  to-day 
from  the  negro  of  twenty  years  ago,  and  as  the  State  has 
suffered  no  detriment  from  his  elevation  so  far,  it  should 
bean  encouragement  for  all  good  citizens  to  take  the  other 
necessary  steps  to  bridge  over  the  still  vast  chasm  between 
what  he  now  is,  and  what  he  must  be,  before  he  can 


Upon  the  Elefvation  of  the  Negro. 


37 


become  an  enlightened  and  full-developed  citizen ;  before 
he  can  become  that  efficient  producer  of  wealth  which  is 
absolutely  essential  for  our  own  prosperity. 

But  before  treating  of  the  elevation  of  the  negro,  let  us 
"first  consider  whether  he  is  capable  of  elevation,  for  there 
is  a  wide-spread  public  sentiment,  that  he  is  capable  of 
only  a  very  moderate  improvement — that  as  v^^e  have 
known  him,  so  he  must  ever  be;  and  if  this  opinion  be 
true,  then  we  had  better  at  once  shut  up  all  his  schools, 
and  at  once  cease  all  efforts  for  his  amelioration,  for  they 
must  necessarily  prove  fruitless. 

We  will  not,  however,  indulge  in  theory  or  quote  stock  . 
sacred  texts,  showing  the  equality  of  all  men,  and  there- 
fore the  equality  of  the  negro,  nor  quote  the  assertion  of 
evolutionists  that  all  men  have  sprung  from  one  human 
pair,  but  we  will  appeal  to  a  few  simple  facts  patent  to  all. 

First,  no  one  will  deny  that  even  our  field  hands  were 
greatl}^  superior  to  their  relatives  in  Africa,  and  why? 
Simply  because,  our  negroes  had  for  many  years  been 
comfortably  fed  and  clad,  and  the  slaves  had  learned 
something  from  their  white  masters. 

Second,  no  one  will  deny  that  house  servants,  especially 
those  raised  in  the  family,  were  greatly  superior  in 
appearance  and  every  other  respect  to  field  hands,  and 
why?  Simply  because  their  comforts  had  been  much 
greater,  and  their  associations  had  been  more  intimate 
with  the  better  class  of  whites. 

And  third,  when  on  Sundays,  we  enter  negro  churches 
and  behold  large,  well  dressed,  and  well  behaved  congre- 
gations presided  over  by  pastors  of  good  standing  and 
ability;  when  we  observe  their  numerous  benevolent 
societies  successfully  conducted;  when  we  enter  their 
schools  and  see  large  numbers  of  obedient  pupils,  dili- 
gently studying  their  books,  and  when  in  their  high 
schools  we  see  exhibitions  of  scholarship  creditable  to  the 
whites,  with  all  their  present  and  antecedent  advantages, 
we  must  confess  that  here  is  an  immense  advance  upon 


B8  The  Prosper liy  of  the  South  Dependent 


the  house  ser\rant  class.  But  although  the  interval 
between  these  last  and  the  naked  savages  ranging  African 
jungles  and  starving  or  subsisting  mainly  upon  vermin 
is  as  great  as  from  pole  to  pole,  yet  they  are  the  same 
negroes  which  many  of  us  claim  are  incapable  of  elevation, 
and  all  the  difference  between  these  antipodes  is  that  our 
negroes  have  been  exposed  to  many  fostering  surround- 
ings. Now,  nobody  can  deny  that  here  is  some  elevation 
or  improvement  of  our  negroes,  whether  we  call  it  ten, 
twenty  or  fifty  per  cent.,  and  granting  that  the  negro  has 
advanced  only  ten  per  cent,  under  slightly  favoring  influ- 
ences, who  can  deny  the  probability,  nay,  the  certainty,  of 
his  advancing  the  whole  scale  of  one  hundred  per  cent,  if 
exposed  to  the  same  favoring  influences  the  whites  have 
enjoyed  for  centuries;  and  as  only  good  can  come  to  the 
whites  from  the  negro's  elevation,  we  should  honestly 
and  even  zealously  take  all  the  steps  necessary  to  that 
end?  The  proposition  that  twice  two  is  four,  is  very  sim- 
ple; but  if  we  admit,  also,  that  twice  four  is  eight  because 
twice  two  is  four,  we  have  a  very  small  key,  yet  one  that 
is  sufficient  for  unlocking  the  most  secret  chambers  of 
nature,  and  of  explaining  all  the  laws  of  the  universe;  so 
if  we  admit  the  simple  proposition  that  our  negroes  have 
been  elevated  even  slightly  above  their  brethren,  now 
dwelling  in  Africa,  we  furnish  the  believers  in  the  complete 
elevation  of  the  negro  with  a  key  that  may,  and  that 
probably  will,  unloose  all  the  formidable  bars  and  bolts 
that  at  present  obstruct  his  elevation. 

But  those  who  claim  that  the  negro  is  incapable  of  mate- 
rial elevation  point  triumphantly  to  the  fact  that  in  the 
long  course  of  history  the  negro  has  accomplished 
nothing  in  the  line  of  civilization,  and  they  argue  that  if 
in  the  long  past  he  has  developed  very  slightly,  if  at  all, 
therefore  he  will  accomplish  as  little,  which  is  nothing, 
in  the  long  future. 

While  granting,  but  with  some  reservations,  however, 
the  general  fact  of  the  negro's  small  advance,  the  there- 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Xegro. 


39 


roK£,  or  the  deduction,  is  demurred  to,  on  the  ground  that 
it  is  a  non  sequitur.  If  the  negro  has  shown  no  capacity  of 
development  from  the  lowest  stage  in  which  any  of  the 
family  is  found,  then  the  therefore  is  logical  and  indis- 
putable; but  if  the  negro  has  shown  anywhere  any 
development  from  his  lowest  stage  of  beastiality,  then 
the  therefore  is  not  only  illogical,  but  the  simple  fact  of 
any  improvement  is  an  incontrovertible  argument  for  fur- 
ther improvement;  and  the  further  improvement  is  an 
incontrovertible  argument  for  further  and  still  further 
improvement,  until  at  last  equality  with  the  highest  type 
of  mankind  is  reached. 

Let  us  inquire  briefly  into  the  facts.  Does  every  tribe 
or  people  in  its  native  home,  Africa,  exhibit  one  dead 
level  of  immovable  and  unredeemable  barbarism?  If 
they  do,  the  question  of  the  elevation  of  the  negro  is  set- 
tled at  the  outset;  but  if  they  do  not,  the  game  is  just 
begun.  That  they  do  not,  but  that  some  negroes  show 
considerable  advance,  is  proved  from  the  following  extract 
from  Herbert  Spencer,  in  his  chapter  on  Idol  AVorship 
and  Fetich  Yrorship  : 

"We  find  it  (Fitichismi  rampant  when  there  are  fortified 
towns,  well-organized  governments,  large  standing  armies,  pri- 
sons, police  and  sumptuary  laws,  considerable  division  of  labor, 
periodical  markets,  regular  shops  and  all  the  appliances,  showing 
some  progress  in  civilization.'' 

Also  by  same  in  Political  Institutions  (Chapter  I) : 

"Take,  again,  an  African  society — Dahomey.  AYe  find  there  a 
finished  system  of  classes,  six  in  number  ;  cornplex  governmental 
arrangements,  with  oflicia's  always  in  pairs  ;  an  army  divided 
into  battalions,  having  reviews  and  sham  fights ;  prisons,  police 
and  sumptuary  laws  ;  an  agriculture  which  uses  manure  and 
grows  a  score  kind  of  plants  ;  moated  towns,  bridges  and  roads 
with  turnpikes." 

Again,  in  chaper  II.,  quoting  Baker: 

"  Passing  suddenly  from  the  wildest  savagedom  to  semi-civili- 
zation, we  come  to  Unyoro,  where  they  have  developed  adminis- 
tration sub  governors,,  taxes,  good  "clothing,  art,  agriculture, 
architecture,"" 


40 


The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


Besides  these,  there  are  the  Abyssinians,  the  Ashantees, 
and  the  Zulus — all  peoples  who  have  defied  the  power  of 
Great  Britain,  and  who  have  developed  into  strong  and 
stable,  though  bloody  and  despotic,  governments.  If  cir- 
cumstances in  Africa  itself  have  elevated  some  negro 
tribes  into  powerful  kingdoms,  the  argument,  instead  of 
being  that  the  negro  is  incapable  of  improvement,  is  that 
he  is  capable  of  elevation,  and  that  this  elevation  is  pro- 
portioned to  and  dependent  upon  favorable  surroundings, 
acting  continuously  for  long  periods  of  time. 

But  lest  the  reader  be  wearied,  let  us  conclude  this 
point  with  a  most  inadequate  summary  in  parallel  col- 
umns of  the  surroundings  of  whites  and  blacks,  and  then 
let  us  wonder,  if  we  can,  that  the  two  colors  are  now  ns 
we  find  them,  or  then  question  that  if  the  surroundings 
had  been  reversed  whether  we  would  not  now  be  found 
at  the  bottom  and  the  blacks  at  the  top  of  civilization. 

NATURAL  SURROUNDINGS. 


WHITES. 

Temperate  zone. 

Stimulating  climate. 

Man  invigorated  by  climatt; ; 
therefore, 

Bold,  free,  energetic,  intelligent. 

Many  navigable  streams. 

Coasts  deeply  indented  with 
gulfs,  bays,  sounds,  and,  there- 
fore. 

People  encouraged  to  industry 
and  accumulating  wealth. 


BLACKS. 

Torrid  zone. 

Debilitati ng  climate. 

Man  overpowered  and  degraded 

by  climate  ;  therefore, 
Timid,  slavish,  indolent,  stupi 
No  navigable  streams. 
One  unbroken  coast -line,   •  - 

bays,  gulfs,  sounds,  and,  thcvc 

fore, 

People  sluggish  and  slothful,  no 
encouragement  to  labor  and 
no  accumulation  of  wealth. 


ARTIFICIAL  SURROUNDINGS. 

Freedom  of  person.  Abject  slavery  of  person. 

Laboring  for  self.  Toiling  for  others. 

Hope  of  reward  and  prospect  of  Little  hope  of  reward  and  no 

advancement.  prospect  of  advancement. 

Wealth,  with  its  innumerable  Indigence,  with  its  numberless 

advantages.  drawbacks. 

Fostering  influences  of  every  Debasing   influences  of  every 

kind.  kind. 

Weight  of  society  light.  Weight  of  society  crushing. 


Upon  ilie  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


41 


The  Caucasian,  but  especially  that  branch  of  the  family 
which  dv^'ells  in  the  United  States,  like  the  Egypt ians^ 
Assyrians,  Persians,  Greeks  and  Romans  of  the  old  world, 
and  like  the  Chinese  of  both  the  ancient  and  modern 
world,  for  the  Chinese  whom  we  think  unworthy  to  breathe 
the  free  air  of  heaven  in  our  glorious  country  appear  to 
have  been  a  powerful  empire  long  before  the  first  stone  of 
the  pyramid  of  Cheops  was  laid,  long  before  Helen  was 
ravished  from  ante-classic  Greece,  and  long  before  Lupa, 
untrue  to  her  nature,  nursed  instead  of  devoured  Romu- 
lus and  Remus,  fondly  but  falsely  imagines  that  the  Cau- 
casian is  the  favored  child  of  heaven,  and  that  the 
Almighty  himself  has  specially,  particularly,  and  exclu- 
sively endowed  it  with  all  the  powers  and  capacities  of 
civilization.  But  the  real  fact  is,  our  remote  ancestors 
were  as  scurvy  a  lot  as  ever  scourged  the  earth,  and  even 
our  mediaeval  ancestors  were  a  roving  set  of  pirates  and 
freebooters,  whose  lives  were  spent  in  ravishing  and  then 
murdering  women,  in  slaying  infants  and  old  men,  and 
in  reducing  to  slavery  all  able-bodied  men  who  escaped 
the  edge  of  the  sword;  and  the  civilization  of  us,  the 
descendants  of  these  monsters,  is  solely  owing  to  favor- 
ing and  fostering  influences,  mainly  those  of  commerce, 
operating  through  centuries  of  time. 

We  laugh  at  the  Chinese  for  the  vanity  of  claiming 
celestial  origin  for  their  kingdom  and  emperor,  but  our 
vanity  is  much  greater.  The  Chinese  draw  the  line  at 
King  and  State,  but  we,  more  civilized,  but  less  modest, 
draw  the  line  of  divine  favor  so  deftly  that  it  will  embrace 
all  whites  of  any  and  every  degree,  but  at  the  same  time 
exclude  each  and  all  of  every  other  color. 

But  although  nowhere  in  the  United  States,  either  North 
or  South,  does  the  negro  enjoy  all  the  rights  of  the  white, 
yet  when  we  cast  our  eyes  beyond  the  limits  of  our  coun- 
try, the  supposed  home  of  the  free,  we  find  the  negro  oeca- 
pying  the  status  of  full  equality.    In  England  and  hi 


42 


Ihe  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


France,  countries  which  have  led  in  the  race  of  civiliza- 
tion and  of  liberty,  and  which  are  still  in  the  van  of 
enlightenment,  the  negro  rests  under  no  political  or  social 
ban,  but  is  received  everywhere  according  to  his  merits 
and  credentials,  and  if  the  negro  has  good  letters  of  intro- 
duction he  will  be  received  everywhere,  wdiile  the  white 
man,  if  not  so  provided,  will  be  totally  ignored.  And  in 
the  empire  of  Brazil,  whose  ruler  has  a  world-wide  repu- 
tation for  goodness  and  wisdom,  the  negro  is  accorded 
full  social  and  political  equality.  A  Virginian,  who  was 
for  eight  years  from  1853  United  States  consul  at  Rio, 
tells  me  that  wdien  he  was  there  one  of  the  emperor's 
ministers  and  one  of  the  court  physicians  w^ere  black 
negroes;  that  he  had  danced  with  negroes  at  parties  and 
official  receptions,  and  that  many  of  them,  educated  in 
Europeand  favored  with  wealth,  were  much  more  elegantly 
cultured  than  he  was  himself 

And  let  not  such  who  disbelieve  the  capacity  of  the 
negro  for  elevation  imagine  that  perpetual  progress  is  the 
inalienable  inheritance  of  the  Caucasian,  who  as  implicitly 
believes  that  he  is  the  favored  child  of  heaven  as  do  the 
almond-eyed  Celestials,  for  the  slightest  acquaintance  with 
history  and  with  the  career  of  individuals  around  them 
must  convince  them  that  a  people  grows  in  wealth  and 
power  as  long  as  favoring  influences  predominate,  and 
declines  when  adverse  influences  prevail.  Greece,  in  her 
days  of  imperishable  renown,  and  Greece  in  her  abject 
humiliation  under  Turkish  rule,  is  one  of  many  striking 
illustrations  of  this  truth  as  applied  to  nations,  and  we 
almost  daily  have  equally  striking  illustrations  as  regards 
the  individual  when  we  see  the  individual  and  the  family 
falling  through  poverty,  vice  or  recklessness  from  the  top 
to  the  bottom  of  society. 

If  there  is  any  truth  in  experience,  then  experience 
teaches  that  the  negro,  degraded  as  we  think  him,  and 
degraded  as  he  really  is,  can  be  elevated  when  exposed  to 
the  same  fostering  influences  that  have  surrounded  us. 


Upon  the  Elevation  oj  iJie  Negro. 


43 


Chapter  VIII. 

Why  not  let  Time  Elevate? — Our  Lives  Too  Short — Must  Hasten 
and  Assist  Natural  Process  of  Time — Elevation  cannot  b:) 
Summary ;  must  have  Cordial  Co-operation  of  the  Whites — 
Elevation  of  the  Negro  does  not  mean  Negro  Domination  ; 
Why? 

Seeing  now  that  the  negro  can  be  elevated — seeing  that 
he  has  been  elevated,  elevation  and  degradation  being 
simply  the  logical  consequences  of  favorable  or  adverse 
agencies — what  are  we  going  to  do  ?  Shall  we  oppose  or 
shall  we  drift  and  take  chances  of  killing  or  curing,  or 
shall  we  promote  the  negro's  progress?  Prejudice  coun- 
sels the  first,  timidity  the  second,  common  sense  the  third; 
so  what  shall  we  do? 

The  majority  will  probably  say,  Wait;  why  take  any 
steps  to  correct  any  abuses  or  to  counteract  any  injurious 
consequences  associated  with  his  present  degraded  condi- 
tion, for,  say  the}^  evils  will  in  time  cure  themselves. 
But  although  history  and  observation  abundantly  prove 
that  evils  do  not  always  work  their  own  cure,  but  as  often 
or  oftener  effect  the  ruin  of  the  patient,  we  will  admit 
that  time  will  happily  effect  a  solution  of  the  negro  pro- 
blem ;  but  then  we  must  remember  that  time  is  not  only 
a  very  uncertain,  but  also  a  very  long  something,  and 
while  we  are  waiting  for  this  time  we  will  be  really  suf- 
fering all  the  evils  and  disadvantages  of  actual  poverty, 
which  should  not  be  thought  of.  In  all  other  things  we 
endeavor  to  abridge  the  natural  process  of  time,  and  so 
should  we  in  the  gravest  question  before  us — namely,  the 
elevation  of  the  negro. 

If  our  lives  lengthened  into  centuries,  like  those  of  Ihe 
patriarchs,  there  might  be  little  cause  for  haste,  for  (  u} 
generation  would  have  ample  time  to  witness  the  perfec- 


44  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


tioii  of  this  and  of  many  other  reforms;  but  when,  m 
these  degenerate  days,  man's  span  is  shortened  to  a  pal- 
try three  score  years  and  ten,  a  generation,  if  things  are 
left  to  drift,  will  pass  away  before  it  can  see  one  single 
reform  of  importance  accomplished.  Thus,  if  we  take  no 
steps  to  hasten  the  negro's  perfect  enfranchisement  and  ele- 
vation, upon  which  our  power  and  prosperity  are  depen- 
dent, not  only  this,  but  most  probably  other  generations 
will  disappear  before  we  will  escape  from  our  present  con- 
dition of  poverty  and  ignorance,  already  partially  set 
forth.  Man's  life  is  now  too  short  to  wait  for  the  natural 
process  of  time,  which  may  or  may  not  work  a  cure,  but 
he  must  hasten  nature  and  take  a  hand  himself,  and  he 
does,  v/hen  wise,  take  a  hand,  and  greatly  to  his  advan- 
tage. If  the  elevation  of  the  negro  would  not  make  us 
r  wealthy  and  prosperous,  instead  of  advocating  his  cause, 
it  would  be  the  part  of  wisdom  to  promote  any  and  all 
measures  that  would  tend  speedily  to  wipe  him  off  the 
face  of  the  earth;  for  to  remain  as  he  is,  is  not  to  be  a 
citizen,  but,  in  spite  of  the  ballot,  to  be  a  serf;  and  to 
remain  as  he  is,  is  to  be  a  clog  upon  the  South  in  her 
efforts  to  become  wealthy,  powerful,  and  respected  by  the 
other  portions  of  the  Union,  and  by  the  world  at  large. 
At  present  we  are  contemned  by  more  than  half  the 
United  States,  and  are  totally  ignored  by  the  world. 

Tlie  measures  necessary  for  the  elevation  of  the  negro 
cannot  be  carried  out  summarily  or  by  simple  act  of  legis- 
lation, but  they  require  time,  care,  wisdom  and  patience, 
and  are  impossible  without  the  acquiescence  and  cordial 
co-operation  of  the  whites.  The  negroes  might  be  given 
the  full  benefit  of  their  numbers,  so  that  they  absolutely 
controlled  all  the  Southern  States,  either  by  numerical  supe- 
riority or  by  combination  with  a  minority  of  the  whiles, 
but,  with  the  whites  opposed,  they  could  not  hold  power  for 
any  length  of  time,  for  the  superior  intellect  and  stronger 
will  of  the  whites  would  soon,  through  intimidation  or 
fraud,  or  by  both,  cow  and  scatter  their  leaders,  when  the 


upon  the  Elevation   of  the  Xegro. 


45 


negroes,  being  like  slieep  Avitlioiit  shepherds,  "would,  if  the 
contest  had  been  long  and  embittered,  be  in  danger  of 
actual  bondage.  Great  as  is  the  power  of  the  Xational  > 
Government,  it  cannot  elevate  the  negroes  itself,  nor  can 
it  force  the  whites  to  do  so.  The  Cj_uestion  is,  we  may 
say,  absolutely  wiihin  control  of  the  whites.  They  can 
keep  the  negro  in  his  present  degraded  condition,  but 
they  cannot  do  so  without  at  the  same  time  laying  the 
axe  at  the  root  of  their  own  welfare:  and  they  can  crush, 
but  while  doing  this,  they  will  be  like  Samson,  Avho  could 
only  destroy  his  enemies  by  destroying  himself. 

The  wdiites  cannot  see  this  now,  for  they  are  dominated 
by  a  great  aj^prehension — namely,  that  the  elevation  of 
the  negro  means  the  degradation  of  the  whites — and  until 
this  fear  is  allayed  by  showing  them  that  little  probable 
harm  can  accrue  to  them  thereby,  it  will  be  like  appeal- 
ing to  the  winds  to  urge  them  to  steps  leading  to  the 
complete  elevation  and  enfranchisement  of  the  negro.  In 
spite  of  all  exhortation  to  love  our  neighbor  as  ourself, 
human  nature  will  persist  in  loving  itself  better  than  its 
neighbor,  and  so,  as  long  as  the  Souihern  people  believe 
that  the  complete  elevation  of  the  negro  will  be  an  injury 
to  them,  they  cannot  be  expected  to  take  kindly,  or  even 
to  take  at  all,  to  the  idea.  Show  one  that  his  interest 
lies  in  a  certain  direction,  and  ther-.  is  little  difficulty  in 
getting  him  to  go  that  way.  Even  religion  is  in  vain 
imless  it  can  show  the  sinner  that  it  will  confer  an  actual 
benefit  upon  him  either  here  or  elsewhere;  and  so  to 
elevate  the  negro,  we  must  show  the  whites  that  his  ele- 
vation will  be  no  detriment  to  them,  and  to  prove  this  is 
the  whole  tenor  and  object  of  this  essay. 

There  is,  however,  one  error,  or  rather  delttsion.  that  we 
must  guard  against.  To  elevate  the  negro  will,  of  course,  ^ 
greatly  lessen  the  interval  between  the  two  colors;  but 
because  the  gap  will  thereby  be  diminished,  we  must  not 
jump  at  the  illogical  conclusion  that  the  gap  will 
be  lessened  by  the  debasement  in  any  manner  of  the 


46  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 

whites.  We  unconsciously,  but  logically,  reason  to  our- 
selves that  to  elevate  partially  necessarily  means  to  ele- 
vate completely;  that  if  we  raise  the  negro  evon  so  little 
as  ten  per  cent,  there  is  no  logical  stopping  point  short  of 
one  hundred  per  cent.;  that,  therefore,  in  timetha  two 
races  will  most  probably  meet  on  the  same  plane;  but  we 
must  not  infer,  for  that  would  be  an  error,  that  this  plane 
will  be  reached  by  ascent  of  the  negro  and  descent  of  the 
white,  both  meeting  on  a  common  plane  a  little  higher 
than  midway  between  the  two.  It  is  difficult  not  so  to 
conclude,  because  it  is  instinctive  with  us,  but  though 
instinct  may  and  does  answer  for  brutes,  it  is  a  very  poor 
guide  for  human  beings.  There  never  was  a  greater 
delusion  than  this  instinctive  apprehension  of  deteriora- 
tion of  the  whites;  for  bad  as  human  nature  is,  it  does 
not  voluntarily  desert  the  higher  and  the  better  for  the 
lower  and  the  worse.  As  a  localism  here  has  it:  You 
can't  fool  one  with  corn  bread  when  biscuits  are  on  the 
table.  The  colors  will  not  meet  half-way  or  anywhere 
near  it,  but  the  smaller  and  weaker  will  gravitate  to  the 
bigger  and  stronger,  just  as  in  the  material  world,  and  in 
time  the  negro  will  probably  rise  to  the  plane  of  the  white. 
Blind  and  selfish  human  nature,  which  is  honey-combed 
with  envy  and  jealousy,  will  object  to  seeing  the  negro 
anything  better  than  a  despised  and  degraded  creature, 
speaking  with  bated  breath  and  bowing  with  head  uncov- 
ered at  its  slightest  nod,  and  such  nature,  already 
degraded,  will,  of  course,  feel  itself  humiliated  when  it 
loses  its  arbitrary  hold  upon  its  former  dependents,  but 
enlightened  human  nature  will  not  be  and  will  not  feel 
itself  degraded  because  the  negro  has  been  enabled 
through  merit  to  climb  up  to  the  higher  plane,  any  more 
than  a  gentleman  will  feel  degraded  because  his  carpenter, 
butcher,  shoemaker,  or  what  not,  builds  a  handsome  home 
next  door;  on  the  contrary,  a  gentleman  will  rejoice  thnt 
such  a  social  inferior  had  by  intelligence  and  industry 
elevated  himself  in  the  social  scale. 


£^076  tlce  Ettvatiuii  of  the  Negro. 


47 


Chapter  IX. 

To  Elevate  must  Inspire  with  Hope  and  Self-Bespect — Negro  has 
Little  of  Either— Caste— The  South  a  Land  of  Caste  and  Pri- 
vilege— All  Whites  in  Highest,  all  Negroes  in  Lowest  Caste. 

Before  we  can  make  men  of  depraved  and  degraded 
human  beings,  be  they  negro,  Semite,  or  even  Caucasian, 
and  therefore  efficient  producers  of  wealth,  there  are  three 
principal  things  to  be  done.  They  must  be  inspired  with 
self-respect,  their  hope  must  be  stimulated  and  their  intvil- 
ligence  must  be  cultivated,  and  especially  so  with  the 
negro,  for  his  self-respect  is  feeble,  his  hope  faint,  and  his 
intelligence  slight;  he  must  economically,  morally,  and 
socially  be  born  again,  and  self-respect,  hope  and  intelli- 
gence are  the  trinity  that  will  work  out  his  elevation,  and 
they  are  also  the  rule  of  three  to  work  out  our  own  mate- 
rial regeneration. 

Self-respect  is,  in  general  terms,  that  quality  that 
prevents  our  stealing,  lying,  drunkenness,  idling,  neglect- 
ing family,  &c.,  and  the  man  that  is  materially  lacking 
in  self-respect  is  generally  little  better  than  rotten  drift- 
wood, and  incapable  of  accomplishing  any  good  for  the 
society  in  which  he  lives.  In  passing,  we  mention  that 
two  of  our  greatest  men  have  been  singular  and  contra- 
dictory examples  of  this  influence  of  self-respect.  Wash- 
ington possessed  it  to  such  an  abnormal  degree  he  was 
almost  unapproachable,  and  Jupiter  himself,  in  his 
severest  moods,  was  addressed  by  his  inferior  deities  with 
scarce  more  reverence  than  was  Washington  by  his  associ- 
ates. On  the  other  hand.  General  Grant  at  one  period  of  his 
early  military  life  was  so  lacking  in  self-respect  that  his 


48  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


fellow-officers  obliged  him  to  place  his  resignation  in  their 
hands  to  be  held  in  terrorem  over  him,  and  yet  they  were 
finally  obliged  to  forward  it  to  headquarters.  His  sub- 
sequent career  for  many  years  was  a  painful  exhibition 
of  the  effects  of  the  lack  of  self-respect. 

Hope  is,  in  general  terms,  that  sentiment  that  leads  us 
to  expect  rewards  from  our  exertions,  and  that  stimulates 
us  to  effort.  When  hope  is  faint  we  can  accomplish  little, 
and  when  hope  is  extinct  we  slavishly  submit  to  fate  and 
sheepishly  yield  all  that  we  have,  even  our  lives,  to  the 
first  comer.  But  where  hope  is  strong,  and  where  we  can 
reasonably  expect  an  adequate  return  for  our  labor,  there 
we  witness  abounding  prosperity,  as  in  the  commercial 
and  manufacturing  sections  of  our  country,  and,  indeed, 
in  all  new  countries ;  and  where  hope,  even  though  dead, 
revives,  we  behold  the  same  Grant  emerge  from  poverty 
and  degradation  and  become  the  greatest  soldier  of  recent 
times. 

Intelligence  is,  in  general  terms,  that  fruit  of  the  train- 
ing of  the  nervous  system,  of  which  the  brain  is  merely 
the  crown,  which  enables  us  to  perceive  objects  and  situa- 
tions in  their  true  light  and  relationship ;  which  enables 
us  to  grasp  and  avail  ourselves  of  attending  circumstances 
that  w^ill  assist  us  to  accomplish  our  object  with  the  least 
expenditure,  and  which  enables  us  to  perceive  and  to 
avoid  those  difficulties  and  impediments  that  will  thwart 
us  altogether,  or  that  will  cause  us  to  expend  unnecessary 
effort. 

The  negro  is  greatly  deficient  in  all  these  cardinal 
qualifications.  His  self-respect  is  so  small  he  pays  little 
regard  to  chastity  or  tlie  marriage  vow,  and  bastardy  is 
very  general;  he  pays  little  regard  to  honesty,  and  when 
his  necessities  or  his  inclinations  combine  with  opportu- 
nity, the  difference  between  meam  et  tiium  is  reduced  to 
its  least  expression;  and  he  pays  little  regard  for  truth, 
for  he  looks  upon  lying  and  deceit  as  very  venial  faults, 
if  indeed  thev  be  faults  at  all. 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


49 


And  what  hope  has  the  negro,  and  what  stimulus  does 
it  exert  upon  him?  Alas,  in  the  present  attitude  of 
public  sentiment  he  can  have  hut  little  hope,  and  hope 
can  supply  him  with  small  incentive.  And  why?  » 
because  he  is  looked  upon  with  contempt  as  a  degraded 
inferior  simply  by  virtue  of  having  a  black  skin.  A 
negro  may  be  learned,  pious  or  distinguished,  he  may 
have  rendered  great  services  to  his  country  or  to  humanity, 
he  may  be  honored  in  England,  France  and  Germany, 
but  when  he  comes  among  us  who  are  so  superior  to  the 
flower  of  Europe,  he  is  at  once  sent  to  Coventry.  If  he  / 
should  obtain  accommodation  at  hotels  he  receives  them  / 
surreptitiously,  and  if  any  family,  be  it  clerical,  profes- 
sional or  mercantile,  should  receive  him  except  as  an  ^ 
inferior  and  as  an  act  of  condescension,  as  we  sometimes 
invite  inferiors  to  take  a  seat  in  our  2:)resence,  that  family 
is  at  once,  or  would  be,  put  under  the  social  ban.  Not 
only  if  one  is  "a  negro,  but  if  he  has,  or  is  even  suspected 
to  have,  one  drop  of  negro  blood,  he  is  placed  under 
almost  every  disadvantage,  and  he  can  never  feel  safe 
from  snubs,  insults,  or  even  kicks  from  the  superior 
whites.    In  other  words,  the  negro  is  the  victim  of  caste. 

In  countries  where  caste  prevails,  there  is  little  hope  of 
progress  for  the  inferior  castes,  and  none  at  all  for  the 
lowest  caste  of  all.  In  such  countries,  if  people  are  born 
in  a  stable,  they  and  their  descendants  are  doomed  to 
remain  forever  in  a  stable,  and  as  they  happen  to  be  born 
in  a  higher  station,  there  they  remain  perpetually.  In 
India,  the  land  of  castes,  the  Brahmin  is  the  highest  caste ; 
and  whether  rich  or  poor,  whether  a  menial  or  a  lordly 
idler,  neither  he  nor  his  neighbors  ever  forget  the  fact ; 
and  such  is  the  power,  such  is  the  influence,  of  caste  that 
though  he  be  cook  to  the  viceroy  from  far  distant  Albion, 
he  regards  himself  and  is  so  considered  by  his  fellows  as 
superior  even  to  the  august  and  powerful  Governor-Gen - 
3 


50 


The  Prosperity  of  the  Soutli  Dependent 


eral,  who  in  great  measure  controls  the  destinies  of  his 
millions  of  feeble  and  helpless  brethren  (252,541,210 
census  1881). 

The  South,  also,  is  a  veritable  land  of  caste,  and  its 
chains  hang  heavily  upon  those  of  the  lowest  caste.  In 
the  palmy  days  of  slavery,  when  one  man  held  in  his 
hand  the  lives  of  a  thousand,  there  were  several  castes; 
but  now,  though  there  are  still  many  social  and  other 
gradations,  there  are  primarily  only  two  castes. 

Then  there  was  first  in  rank  and  influence  the  caste  of 
educated  and  wealthy  planters,  who  assumed  the  airs  and 
imitated  the  manners  of  the  most  exclusive  aristocracy  of 
England  and  France,  whence  their  families  had  immi- 
grated. In  Virginia,  Louisiana  and  South  Carolina,  but 
especially  in  the  last  State,  many  were  highly  cultivated 
and  intellectual,  were  polished  and  refined  to  a  high 
degree,  the  men  being  elegant  and  chivalric,  and  the 
women  charming  and  beautiful.  In  them  we  beheld  all 
that  w^as  noble  and  attractive  in  the  system  of  caste. 
Next  came  an  intermediate  caste  of  planters.  They  were 
frequently  men  of  wealth,  but  without  education  and  of 
little  refinement,  and  though  they  met  the  first  caste  on 
nearly  equal  but  yet  deferential  terms  on  the  hustings 
and  court  green,  the  families  of  the  two  castes  never 
thought  of  visiting  socially.  Then  came  the  overseer 
caste.  This  caste,  usually  hard  and  heartless,  was  com- 
posed mainly  of  men  who  had  been  overseers,  but  who 
had  acquired  a  few  slaves,  and  had  set  up  for  themselves. 
Although  the  men  mingled  on  semi-equal  terms  with 
those  next  above  them,  they  were  generally  looked  down 
upon,  if  not  despised  ;  and  their  families,  as  a  rule,  never 
thought  of  visiting  socially  the  families  of  those  above  them. 
Finally  came  the  "poor  white"  caste,  possessed  of  no 
negroes,  but  of  a  few  acres,  and  despised  alike  by  whites 
and  blacks. 

The  negroes,  of  course,  were  lower  still,  but  they  were 


upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


51 


hardly  considered  as  human  beings.  They  were  regarded  * 
pretty  much  like  horses  and  cattle,  simply  as  instruments 
like  them,  to  enable  the  other  castes  to  live,  some  in 
elegance,  some  in  ease,  but  all  in  comfort  without  thought 
and  without  toil.  They  were  treated,  too,  pretty  much  as 
cattle;  many,  when  the  masters  were  kind,  treated  mildly 
and  their  physical  necessities  carefully  provided  for;  and 
many,  when  the  masters  were  harsh  and  brutal,  treated 
with  cruelty  and  sometimes  worked  or  beaten  to  death,  it 
being  a  maxim  with  some  cotton  planters  that  it  was 
cheaper  to  work  a  negro  to  death  and  buy  another  tlian 
to  work  him  reasonably  and  prolong  his  life. 

But  now,  in  the  new  order  of  things,  all  these  castes 
have  become  amalgamated  into  one,  and  a  new  caste  has 
been  formed  of  those  who  were  formerly  considered  too 
low  to  form  a  caste  at  all,  and  Southern  society  is  now 
virtually  divided  into  twp  castes.  In  the  first  caste  are 
merged  indiscriminately  gentleman,  farmer,  overseer,  poor 
white,  and  each  and  every  one  of  these,  regardless  of 
education,  worth,  refinement,  decency  or  morality,  belongs 
to  this  class  simply  by  reason  of  a  white  skin.  The  sec- 
ond caste  is  composed  promiscuously  of  all  who  have  a 
black  skin  and  all  related  to  them,  however  remotely; 
and  all  wdio  are  thus  marked,  however  cultured  and 
refined  they  may  be,  however  able  and  however  excel- 
lent, are  confined  as  by  fate  to  this  caste,  and  are  not 
permitted  to  throw  off  its  galling  chains;  and  society,  by 
its  inexorable  verdict,  decrees  that  the  meanest,  lowest, 
and  most  degraded  of  the  first  caste  are,  ipso  facto,  the 
irreversible  and  perpetual  superiors  of  the  best,  highest 
and  ablest  of  the  second  caste. 

Hope  cannot  exist,  certainly  cannot  flourish,  under  such 
a  weight.  If  he  is  to  remain  forever  a  "nigger,"  an 
object  of  undisguised  contempt,  even  to  the  lowest  whites, 
the  negro  will  natually  say  to  himself,  Why  strive,  why 
labor,  why  practice  painful  self-denial  in  order  to  rise,  if 


52  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


I  am  to  derive  no  good  from  my  effort?  On  the  con- 
trary, he  will  not  exert  himself,  but  will  sink  into  despon- 
dency, and  instead  of  becoming  a  net  producer,  and  thus 
an  instrument  of  our  own  prosperity,  he  will  continue  as  he 
is,  a  depredator  upon  others'  industry  and  a  consumer  of 
.  wealth.  The  South  can  never  become  prosperous,  with 
its  laboring  population  bereft  of  hope.  Without  hope 
the  proudest  Anglo-Saxon  sinks  into  despair — much  more 
the  helpless  negro,  who  is  little  more  than  a  child. 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


53 


Chapter  X. 

If  Highest  Caste  will  not  Elevate  must  Crush  Lowest  Caste  to 
Powder — Race  Prejudice  must  be  Mollified  and  Obliterated — 
Prejudice  Mark  (  f  Inferiority — Courts  of  Justice  must  be 
Impartial  to  All  Colors — Why  Negroes  do  not  Enjoj^  such 
Impartiality — Whites  Kind  to  Negroes  Individually,  but 
Kindness  must  be  Accepted  as  Inferiors. 

If  tlie  negro  is  not  to  be  elevated  to  the  full  standard, 
then  clap  on  the  shackles  again  and  reduce  him  speedil}^ 
to  bondage  when  he  can  be  made  to  work ;  no,  not  reduce 
him  to  slavery,  because  all  history  proves  that  slavery  is 
finally  destructive  of  the  master  caste,  but  put  him  between 
the  upper  and  the  nether  millstone,  turn  on  the  water, 
and  quickl}^  grind  him  out  of  existence,  for  otherwise  he 
.  must  necessarily  become  a  thorn  in  the  side  of  society; 
/  for  having  once  tasted  the  sweets  of  partial  enfranchise- 
ment, he  will  not  cease  his  efforts  to  obtain  complete 
enfranchisement  and  equality  until  they  are  crowned 
with  success,  or  until  he  is  again  reduced  to  abject  sub- 
mission. This  jDeriod  of  trial  or  probation  may  continue 
for  a  few  years,  or  it  may  be  indefinitely,  but  whether  it 
lasts  for  centuries  or  merely  for  years,  it  must  be  a  period 
of  anxiety  and  impoverishment  for  the  whites.  But  the 
South  must  do  something ;  it  can't  say  I  won't  do  any- 
thing, or  I  will  fold  my  hands  and  see  what  will  happen. 
The  South,  impelled  by  the  current  of  events,  has  dono 
a  great  deal,  and  it  is  still  doing  much,  but  a  vast  deal 
yet  remains  to  be  done,  and  the  point  is  to  prove  to  the 
South  that  it  is  its  interest  to  do  this  great  deal  more,  and 
to  do  it  without  unnecessary  delay. 


54  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dejmident 


The  first,  the  most  important  and  the  most  difficult 
step  to  take,  is  to  mollify  and  finally  to  obliterate  race  and 
color  prejudice,  a  prejudice  by  no  means  peculiar  to  the 
South  or  to  white  and  black  races,  for  until  very  rccciit 
years  the  Frenchman  had  neither  charity  nor  justice  for 
the  Englishman,  though  separated  only  by  a  narrow  strip 
of  water,  and  the  Englishman  reciprocated  in  kind  and 
with  usurous  interest,  and  although  divided  only  by  an 
imaginary  line,  the  prejudices  between  Englishman  and 
Scotchman  were  notorious ;  and  even  to-day  the  English- 
man is  ruled  by  prejudice  when  Ireland  and  her  claims 
are  in  question.  But  these  race  prejudices  have  now 
measurably  disappeared,  and  they  will  finally  become 
practically  extinct  as  intercourse,  commercial  and  other- 
wise, makes  nations  mutually  acquainted.  And  not  only 
national,  but  personal  prejudices  of  all  kinds  also  disap- 
pear as  intelligence  is  disseminated.  Prejudice  against 
color  itself  has  quite  disappeared  among  Latin  nations, 
and  is  quite  unknown  in  Great  Britain,  our  worthy  exem- 
plar in  so  many  respects,  where  a  negro  stands  on  his 
merits  like  other  people.  But  a  general  exclamation  will 
arise  that  prejudice  against  color  is  ineradicable,  and  that 
we  can  never,  never  overcome  it.  Such  a  confession 
involves  two  contradictory  assertions,  both  of  which  are 
equally  erroneous.  It  implies  that  we  are  superior  to  the 
great  European  nations,  and  in  the  same  breath  that  we 
are  inferior  to  them — superior  in  that  we  are  too  wise  to 
follow  their  example  and  divest  ourselves  of  prejudice 
against  color,  and  inferior  in  that  we  are  unwilling  or 
unable  to  do  so.  Neither  istrue;  and  if  European  nations 
have  found  it  wise  to  break  down  the  prejudice  against 
color  it  will  not  be  wise,  but  foolish,  for  us  not  to  follow 
their  example;  and  if  they  have  been  able  and  willing  to 
throw  off  the  shackles  of  prejudice,  we  are  dishonoring 
ourselves  to  say  or  to  think  that  we  cannot  do  so  likewise. 
Many  glory  in  prejudice,  foolishly  thinking  it  a  mark  of 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro.  55 


superiority,  but  prejudice  is  always  a  weakness,  and  when 
it  is  extreme  it  is  a  badge  of  dishonor.  The  prejudiced 
are  as  they  are  because  they  do  not  see  things  in  their 
true  light,  and  are  like  a  horse  that  shies  and  throws  its 
rider  to  death  because  it  sees  in  the  simple  clod,  stone  or 
stump  a  frightful  spectre  about  to  spring  upon  and  devour 
him.  The  clearer  one  sees  and  the  more  enlightened  he 
is,  the  freer  he  is  from  prejudice,  which  may  be  termed 
seeinp'  thins;.?  in  a  false  lio'ht.  -  And  for  so  manv  o-enera-  ^ 
tions  past  we  have  been  looking  ujdou  the  negro  in  a  false 
light  we  cannot  see  him  and  his  rights  in  their  true  light, 
and  we  shy  violently  and  run  the  risk  of  wrecking  our 
whole  material  welfare  at  the  ideas  of  elevation,  equality, 
manhood,  etc.,  for  the  negro.  Southerners  cannot  be  true 
to  their  loftv  character  to  be  either  unwillino;  or  inca- 
pable  of  overcoming  color  prejudice,  nor  trtie  to  their 
interests  either. 

And  while  mollifying  and  finally  correcting  our  preju- 
dices, we  must  also  modify  otir  actions  before  we  can 
inspire  the  negro  with  the  self-respect  and  hope  that  are 
essential  to  making  him  a  good  citizen  and  an  efiicient 
producer  of  wealth.  And  the  first  duty  resting  upon  us 
in  this  respect  is  to  see  that  in  criminal  matters — that  is 
to  say,  in  matters  of  life  and  liberty — the  scales  of  justice  * 
hang  more  level  between  whites  and  blacks;  that  the 
hand  of  justice  bears  more  ecjually  upon  the  two  colors, 
and  that  both  are  ptmished  alike  for  similar  offenses^ 
although  it  would  seem  reasonable  to  inflict  heavier  pen- 
alties upon  the  whites  because  they  occupy  a  mttch  higher 
plane  morally,  socially  and  intellectually,  and  are  there- 
fore less  excusable  for  violating  law;  and  we  must  see 
that  our  courts  of  justice,  the  most  august  and  beneficent 
product  of  civilization,  are  an  ecpial  refuge  for  the  wronged 
of  all  colors,  and  an  equal  terror  to  all  wrong-doers, 
irrespective  of  previous  condition. 

And  is  not  the  law  the  same  for  all:  and  does  it  make 
any  distinction  between  rich  and  poor,  white  and  black? 


56  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


Literally,  the  law  is  the  same  for  all.  Then  what  more 
can  be  desired?  The  trouble  is  not  that  the  laws  are  par- 
tial, though  some  of  its  enactments — namely,  the  whip- 
ping-post, chain-gang  and  poll  tax  laws — were  aimed  prin- 
cipally against  the  negro;  but  the  trouble  is  with  the 
interpretation  of  the  laws  by  the  juries,  who  merely  voice 
public  sentiment,  which  is  superior  to  the  law  itself.  The 
average  jury  is  awdiimsical  creature,  subject  to  all  kinds 
of  influences,  thougli  mostly  of  a  sentimental  character. 
In  criminal  matters,  wdiere  whites  are  concerned,  it 
seems  ever  to  lean  to  the  defense;  and  the  strongest  argu- 
ments of  the  prosecution  are  easily  offset  and  upset  by 
appeals  on  behalf  of  youth,  family,  station,  respectability, 
&c. ;  or  perhaps  the  whole  family,  weeping,  is  placed  in  full 
view  of  the  jury;  and  the  susceptible  jury — sure  at  least 
in  such  cases  to  weep  with  them  that  weep — speedily 
brings  in  a  verdict  of  acquittal  where  guilt  is  clearly 
manifest ;  or  it  says  jail  where  it  ought  to  say  penitentiary ; 
or  one  year  where  it  ought  to  say  ten,  and  ten  years 
where  it  ought  to  pronounce  death.  But  the  negro  has 
none  of  these  sentimental  advantages.  Too  poor  to 
employ  competent  counsel,  his  liberty  and  life  are  neces- 
sarily committed  to  incompetent  hands,  when  the  proverb 
of  poor  pay  poor  preach  becomes  reality.  But  more  unfor- 
tunate still,  what  sentiment  can  a  poor  ignorant,  unkempt 
negro  inspire,  who  thinks  of  his  family,  of  his  wife  bowed 
down  with  grief,  of  his  little  ones  deprived  of  a  father's 
support  and  suffering  for  bread?  The  idea  is  preposte- 
rous, and  so  the  jury,  without  difficulty,  brings  in  its  ver- 
dict of  jail,  penitentiary,  or  even  death.  The  negro  may 
be  rightly  punished,  and  he  may  receive  no  more  than  his 
just  deserts,  but  if  this  is  so,  then  the  white  receives  less 
than  his  due  deserts;  or  if  the  white  is  judged  none  too 
leniently,  then  the  negro  is  judged  altogether  too  Iiarshly. 

As  long  as  the  negro  sees  this  state  of  affairs  con  tin  no; 
as  long  as  justice  appears  to  him  to  slip  aside  her  ban 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro, 


57 


dage  when  he  is  brought  before  her  august  tribunal,  and 
judge  him  according  to  his  previous  and  present  condition, 
he  must  be  bowed  down  with  dread  and  humiliation,  and 
whatever  hope  he  may  have  nourished  must  die  within 
him.  But  when  he  sees  that  similar  offenses  meet  with 
equal  punishments,  irrespective  of  color  or  previous  con- 
dition, then  however  severely  he  may  be  chastised,  his 
self-respect  and  hope  will  not  be  offended ;  but  on  the  con- 
trary, they  will  spring  up  and  strengthen,  and  make  him 
a  man — make  him  an  efficient  agent  in  promoting  that 
prosperity  of  which  we  are  ever  dreaming  but  never  behold- 
ing. In  civil  suits,  where  the  judges,  in  Virginia,  at  least, 
j^tractically,  through  their  instructions,  decide  the  case,  the 
negro  receives  substantial  justice. 

But  are  negroes  treated  unfairly  by  juries  and  public  ' 
opinion?  Yes,  and  the  experience  and  observation  of 
every  fair-minded  man  will  confirm  the  assertion.  One 
cardinal  proof  is  that  a  white  man  seldom  receives  pun- 
ishment for  assault,  however  brutal,  however  unpro- 
voked, however  cowardly — be  it  maiming,  homicide  or 
murder  upon  a  negro — unless,  forsooth,  the  assailant  be 
some  degraded  creature,  disowned  by  his  own  caste.  Of 
the  numberless  instances — running  into  the  thousands 
during  the  past  twenty-three  years — of  homicides,  and 
murder  of  blacks  by  whites,  there  is  no  single  instance  of 
capital  punishment,  and  few,  very  few,  instances  of 
imprisonment  beyond  a  few  months  in  jail,  or  a  slight 
fine.  The  fact  is  the  juries,  which  are  the  sole  judges  of  ' 
the  evidence,  will  accept  testimony  against  a  negro  that 
they  would  reject  in  the  case  of  whites  ;  and  on  the  other 
hand  they  will  frequently  reject,  or  at  least  discredit,  testi- 
mony of  the  negro  against  the  white  man,  however  well 
supported  it  may  be.  But  to  compound  for  sins  we  are 
inclined  to  by  damning  those  we  have  no  mind  to,  in  case 
of  any  difficulty  between  white  and  black,  and  the  former 
is  injured  or  loses  his  life;  lucky  is  the  latter,  if  the  homi- 


58 


The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


cide  is  not  declared  by  the  crowd  to  be  murder — when 
courts  of  justice,  though  sure  to  inflict  the  highest  penalty 
in  his  case,  are  found  to  be  too  slow,  and  he  is  dragged 
forth  and  slain,  unshrived  and  unsh riven,  as  if  he  were  a 
monstrous  wild  beast  of  whose  presence  earth  could  not  be 
rid  too  quickly. 

As  bearing  on  this  point,  the  following  is  copied  from 
the  Richmond  Dispatch  as  I  am  writing  this  chapter. 
Many  other  examples  could  be  selected  in  the  course  of 
any  month.  All  these  wretches  were  negroes,  whom 
justice,  entirely  untempered  by  mercy,  would  not  have 
suffered  to  escape,  and  there  was  therefore  absolutely  no 
excuse  and  no  necessity  for  these  assassinations : 

[Special  telegram  to  the  Dispatch.] 
Raleigh,  N.  C,  September  14 — News  was  received  here  to- 
night of  another  lynching,  which  is  the  thirteenth  this  year.  It 
occurred  at  Whiteville,  Columbus  county,  night  before  last.  A 
body  of  masked  men,  a  hundred  or  more,  entered  the  jail  and 
demanded  the  keys  from  the  jailer.  With  a  score  of  revolvers 
pointed  at  him  he  surrendered  the  keys,  and  the  lynchers  went  to 
the  cell  where  Sherman  Farrier  (colored)  wasconiined  for  an  out- 
rage committed  on  an  aged  white  woman,  took  him  and  departed. 
Yesterday,  suspended  to  the  limb  of  a  large  oak  about  one  mile 
from  the  jail,  the  body  of  Sherman  Farrier  was  found  with  a 
placard  pinned  on  his  breast  bearing  the  words  :  "We  protect  the 
virtue  of  our  women.  Beware."  Farrier  was  a  man  of  bad  char- 
acter, and  had  repeatedly  been  engaged  in  robbery.  He  was 
given  a  preliminary  hearing  before  two  magistrates  last  Monday, 
and  was  committed  to  jail  to  await  trial.  The  evidence  against 
him  was  conclusive. 

We  will  here  mention  a  singular  phase  of  Southern  white 
life,  and  that  is,  the  slain  or  injured  is  always  the  guilty 
party,  and  nowhere  else  in  the  wide  world  does  justice 
so  accurately  apportion  penalty.  The  slain  nmst  be  the 
,  guilty  party,  for  the  white  slayer  of  his  white  brother  is 
never  punished,  or  hardly  ever,  and  is  almost  always 
acquitted  with  honor.  Acquittal  usually  means  inno- 
cence, but  universal  acquittal  can  only  mean  universal 
innocence,  and  universal  guilt  of  the  maimed  or  slain. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  safer  in  the  South  for  a  respect- 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


59 


able  white  man  to  slay  his  neighbor  than  to  kill  his 
neighbor's  dog;  for  killing  the  man  rarely  means  more 
than  a  short  time  in  jail,  a  feeble  trial,  and  an  acquittal 
with  eclat,  of  course  a  round  legal  fee ;  but  killing  the 
dog  means  almost  as  generally  an  accounting  with  the 
owner  of  the  dog,  in  which  case  the  murderous  revolver 
may  take  an  active  part. 

But  let  it  not  be  supposed  from  the  foregoing  that  the 
whites  individually  are  not  just  to  the  negro;  they  are 
much  more  considerate  of  his  wants  and  feelings  than 
are  Northern  people.  ~^But  as  a  rule  our  kindness  is 
bestowed  as  condescension,  and  it  must  be  received  with 
all  due  huniility  and  with  a  tacit  acknowledgment  of 
inferiority  status;  for  let  the  negro  betray  even  a  mod- 
erate sense  of  equality  or  manhood,  he  is  then  thought 
"impudent,"  and  our  kindness  takes  affront.  Until  the 
negro  sees  and  feels  that  the  community  fully  recognizes 
that  courts  of  justice  are  as  much  a  refuge  for  him  and 
as  much  a  bulwark  of  his  life  and  liberty  as  for  the 
highest  and  the  proudest,  be  can  never  feel  sure  of  his 
position,  and  as  long  as  what  he  enjoys  is  by  favor  or 
condescension,  he  can  never  be  certain  that  what  he 
enjoys  to-day  may  not  ])e  arbitrarily  wrested  from  him 
to-morrow,  and  until  he  sees  that  vrhat  he  enjoys  is  by 
inalienable  light,  can  he  have  that  sense  of  security  and 
manhood  that  are  essential  for  an  efficient  wer:lth»pro- 
ducer. 


60  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


Chapter  XI. 


OTHER  THINGS  WE   MUST  DO. 

The  Negroes  should  be  Allowed  Free  Admission  to  All  Hotels, 
Theatres,  Churches,  and  Official  Receptions — Such  Places  not 
Private  Property— Why  they  Belong  to  the  Whole  Public — 
Why  Negroes  should  not  be  Restricted  to  Places  for  Negroes — 
If  so,  Same  Principle  of  Segregation  should  be  Applied  to 
Other  Things  and  to  People  of  Each  State — Example  of  Drum, 
mer — Imaginary  Examples,  &c. 

The  negro  must  be  allowed  free  access  to  all  hotels  and 
other  places  of  public  entertainment;  he  must  be  allowed 
free  admittance  to  all  theatres  and  other  places  of  public 
amusement;  he  must  be  allowed  free  entrance  to  all 
churches,  and  in  all  public  and  official  receptions  of  pres- 
ident, governor,  mayor,  &c.  he  must  not  be  excluded 
by  a  hostile  caste  sentiment.  In  all  tbese  things  and  in" 
all  these  places  he  must,  unless  we  wish  to  cHp  his  hope 
and  crush  his  self-respect,  be  treated  imprecisely  like  the 
whites,  no  better,  b\it  no  worse. 

In  the  capital  of  our  great  country,  the  respectable 
negro,  though  not  welcomed,  is  admitted  to  the  best 
-  hotels,  to  the  best  seats  in  theatres,  to  the  best  churches, 
and  in  presidential  receptions  he  meets  with  no  humil- 
iating discriminations;  yet  when  we  come  South  as  far  as 
Richmond,  only  about  100  miles  from  Washington,  we 
seem  to  be  in  a  different  country,  we  seem  to  be  trans- 
lated from  a  world  of  equality  where  worth  makes  the 
man  to  a  land  of  caste  where  birth  makes  him.  In 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


61 


\  Pviolimond  a  riot  is  threatened  when  it  is  thought  that  a 
negro  member  of  a  Brooklyn  white  lodge  intends  occupy- 
ing in  company  with  his  white  brother,  a  first-class  seat 
in  the  theatre.  The  hotels,  except  under  extraordinary 
pressure,  driye  negroes  from  their  doors;  the  leading  con- 
gregations, except  the  Catholic,  would  go  into  a  spasm  and 
perhaps  leaye  the  house,  were  the  negro  to  seat  himself 
with  the  body  of  meek  and  lowly  worshipers ;  and  if  a 
negro  with  his  wife  or  sweetheart  were  to  attend  the  goy- 
ernor's  public  reception,  they  would  in  a  few  minutes  be 
the  only  guests,  or  they  would  be  frozen,  if  not  driyen  out. 
But  perhaps  we  should  not  be  surprised  that  such  slight 
change  of  latitude  should  work  such  great  difference,  see- 
ing that  a  slight  yariation  at  the  creation  produced  all 
the  yast  difference  between  man  and  woman. 

Let  us  put  ourselyes  in  the  negro's  place.  Let  us  feel 
when  passing  good  hotels  there  is  no  admission  here ;  we 
dare  not  go  in  lest  we  be  kicked  out;  when  entering  a 
theatre  to  be  told  to  go  up  in  the  top  gallery,  no  seat  for 
you  in  tlie  parquette;  when  entering  an  imposing  church 
to  be  told  rudely  no  place  in  God's  house  for  you,  unless 
there  be  a  gallery,  to  which  you  are  sent  with  indifference, 
or  when  seeking  to  attend  an  official  reception,  your  goy- 
ernor's  for  instance,  to  be  told  brusquely  no  admittance, 
and  su})pose  this  treatment  is  continued  year  after  year, 
and  as  far  as  we  can  see  is  likely  to  continue  ad  infiniturii, 
would  not  we  haye  our  pride  cut  to  the  Cjuick,  and  would  not 
our  raoralehQ  greatly  lowered,  and  would  we  not  be  greatly 
handicapped  in  all  our  efforts  to  get  along?  There  can 
be  no  doubt  of  it;  and  can  we  expect  the  ignorant, 
degraded,  poyerty-ridden  negro  to  rise  with  such  burdens 
resting  upon  him,  and  if  he  sees  no  prospect  of  the  bur- 
dens lifting?  Hope  herself  will  not  be  able  to  stimulate 
him  to  exertion.  AVe  must  lift  these  heayy  burdens  and 
grieyous  to  be  borne,  and  unless  we  do  we  can  neyer  haye 
the  negroes  as  co-workers  in  the  production  of  wealth, 


62  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 

and  without  their  co-operation  it  will  be  vain  to  expect 
prosperity.  We  may  continue  to  crush,  and  we  may 
delight  in  the  exhibition  of  our  arbitrary  power,  but  every 
oppression  and  every  denial  of  the  equal  rights  of  the 
negroes  will  be  at  our  ow^n  expense. 

Many  will  excuse  and  defend  this  treatment  of  the 
negro  on  the  ground  that  theatres,  hotels  and  churches, 
are  private  property,  and  that  to  compel  them  to  receive 
negroes  on  equal  terms  with  whites  would  be  to  correct 
one  wrong,  if  it  be  a  wrong  to  treat  them  thus,  by  com- 
mitting another.  But  although  theatres,  hotels  and 
churches  may  be  private  property,  they  are  public  as 
regards  their  creation  and  their  functions,  and  they  are  of 
the  nature  of  railways  which  may  be  private  property, 
but  which  are  public  institutions.  As  a  railroad  cannot 
build  a  track  or  run  a  car  except  by  virtue  of  permission, 
called  a  charter,  granted  by  the  public,  so  no  theatre  can 
,  raise  its  curtain  and  no  hotel  can  spread  its  table  without 
^  the  same  permission,  called  a  license,  from  the  public, 
which  means  not  some,  but  all  the  people,  not  whites 
alone,  but  whites  and  blacks.  And  churches  are  likewise 
public,  because  the  community,  which  means  all  the  peo- 
ple, exempts  them  from  all  taxation,  and  churches  can 
become  strictly  private  only  by  renouncing  their 
public  exemptions,  and  then  they  may  impose  any 
restrictions  they  choose  upon  would-be  worshipers. 

All  these  institutions  are  public — they  belong  to  the 
public,  and  are  for  the  public  convenience — and  they  can 
as  properly  refuse  accommodation  to  all  whose  noses  indi- 
cate a  Semitic  origin,  all  whose  names  or  "rich  brogue" 
betray  Hibernian  descent,  or  all  whose  "sweet  accent a  la 
General  Scott  reveals  Teutonic  birth,  as  to  refuse  similar 
accommodation  to  all  whose  faces  are  black. 

For  public  sentiment  to  shut  the  doors  of  any  of  these 
places  in  the  faces  of  any  portion  of  the  community,  is  to 
degrade  and  to  humiliate  it,  and  is  greatly  to  impair  its 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


63 


abiiibj  to  serve  the  best  interests  of  societ}^  But  granting 
uiese  institutions  to  be  private  property,  their  owners 
would  not  be  injured  when  all  were  obliged  to  furnish 
similar  accommodations  to  all  classes,  for  in  that  case, 
caste  purists  would  then  have  no  occasion  to  desert  one 
place  ioT  another,  for  they  would  be  liable  to  meet  every- 
where the  despised  black  face.  Would  I  like  being 
thrown  at  the  same  hotels  and  other  places  with  negroes? 
No,  but  it  would  be  very  much  easier  to  bear  the  shock 
to  taste  or  fancy  than  to  endure  the  shock  to  justice  by 
depriving  any  fellow-creatures  of  their  rights. 

But  others  say  let  the  negroes  stick  to  their  own  hotels, 
their  own  places  of  public  amusement,  and  their  own 
churches.  As  a  rule  they  will  do  so,  for  like  prefers  like 
the  world  over.  But  suppose  some  negroes  on  account  of 
convenience,  comfort  or  profit  desire  to  go  elsewhere,  what 
then?  Shall  we  say  no,  and  in  case  of  refusal  shall  we 
call  in  the  police,  and  in  a  place  like  New  York  herd 
them  together  in  Thompson  street  and  other  local  ghetto? 

This  course  would  present  a  pretty  state  of  affairs. 
Policemen  would  increase  prodigiously  in  number,  and 
blue  cloth  and  brass  buttons  W(  uld  rise  to  a  monstrous 
price,  for  constables  would  be  required  at  all  the 
approaches  to  every  city  and  town  where  negroes  would 
likely  travel  in  order  to  direct  them  to  their  appropriate 
places.  In  small  cities  this  would  not  be  very  difficult, 
but  in  New  York  where  distances  are  very  great,  the 
policemen,  instead  of  guarding  the  city,  would  be  employed 
in  guiding  the  colored  traveller,  or,  as  many  travellers 
would  certainly  prove  refractory,  would  be  engaged  in 
dragging  them  to  station-houses,  which  would  then  be  so 
full  of  prisoners  whose  only  crime  was  a  matter  of  taste, 
that  there  would  be  no  room  for  actual  criminals.  Cities, 
too,  would  be  obliged  sometimes  to  increase  their  debts 
on  account  of  damages  for  false  imprisonment,  for  dark 
brunettes  are  so  much  like  mulattoes,  mistakes  are  sure  fre- 
quently to  occur,  like  the  following: 


64 


The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


Some  years  ago  a  drummer,  since  become  partner  in 
his  house,  from  my  city,  was  urging  an  irascible  North 
Carolina  merchant  to  purchase  his  wares.  He  was,  how- 
ever, a  little  too  persistent,  and  vexed  the  merchant,  who 
cried  out  to  him,  "you  damned  yaller  rascal,  if  you  don't 
get  out  of  here  I'll  kick  you  out."  Before  adopting  the 
plan  of  segregration,  our  dark  skinned  Southern  brethren 
should  carefully  reflect,  for  they  might  be  corraled  and 
introduced  to  the  charms  of  Thompson  street. 

If  the  system  of  segregation  were  adopted  for  the  blacks 
it  would  be  well  to  extend  its  benefits  to  the  people  of  all 
this  glorious  Union.  There  are  thirty-eight  States,  all  of 
whose  citizens  have  more  or  less  peculiarities,  some  of 
which  are  very  offensive  to  the  citizens  of  other  States. 
Now,  for  the  peace,  comfort  and  quiet  of  the  citizen, 
great  cities  like  New  York  and  Chicago  should  be  divided 
into  thirty-eight  sections,  properly  marked,  branded  or 
painted — painting  would  be  the  most  effective  and  pictu- 
resque, so  that  no  town  need  ever  be  painted  an  uniform 
red — and  when  a  train  or  boat  arrived,  the  hackmen 
should  not  cry  our  Astor  House,  Fifth-avenue  Hotel,  &c., 
but  the  travellers  should  sing  out  Georgia,  Ohio,  New 
York,  Massachusetts,  &c.,  &c.,  when  they  would  be  taken 
in  charge  by  the  custodians  of  the  various  sections  and 
properly  directed.  Then  nobody  would  be  shocked  by 
color,  whiskey,  tobacco  juice,  profanity  or  any  other  habit, 
practice  or  forms  of  speech  they  were  not  accustomed  to  at 
home.  Obviously,  a  modification  of  the  plan  would  have 
to  be  made  in  small  places  like  Richmond,  and  in  the 
Southern  cities.  These  cities  cannot  afford  many  hotels, 
and  as  visitors  cannot  be  segregated,  Yankees,  Hoosiers, 
Wolverines,  &c.,  should  be  refused  admittance  to  any 
Southern  hotel,  because  in  the  first  place,  they  are  not  fit 
to  associate  even  in  hotels  with  high-toned  Southerners ;  in 
the  second  place,  because  their  "guessing,"  "had'nt  ought 
tos,"  " do  tells,"  &c.,  would  clash  painfully  with  our  "few 


rpon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


65 


molasses,''"  '-havlit  sa^^'s/'  ^'we-uns,"  "you-uns/''  etc.,  and 
because  in  the  third  phace,  their  criticisms,  verbal  or  by 
looks,  of  our  favorite  pastime  of  medallioning  our  floors 
with  tobacco  juice  would  be  extremely  disagreeable,  and 
while  excluding  color  because  disagreeable  or  offensive,  it 
would  be  well  to  exclude  at  the  same  time  everything  else 
distasteful,  so  that  our  hotel  life  may  realize  the  ideal  of 
perfect  social  intercourse.  But  what  shall  we  do  with 
visitors  from  Xorthern  and  AVestern  States,  whom  the 
frantic  efforts  of  our  immigration  societies  induce  to  come 
South?  That  is  easy  enough.  Partition  off  in  the  sub- 
urbs camping  grounds  or  caravansereys  for  the  various 
Xorthern  and  AVestern  States,  and  tell  them  to  bring  their 
tents  and  '•'vittles"  along.  This  would  be  a  very  nice 
arrangement,  and  the  novelty  of  it  would  undoubtedly 
attract  strangers  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  Segregation 
is  indeed  an  excellent  plan,  and  the  more  excellent  the 
more  general  should  its  benefits  be  diffused. 


66 


The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


Chapter  XII. 

Negro  Votes  Freely  in  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and  Tennessee, 
but  not  in  the  Six  Southern  States  ;  Why? — Tables  Showing 
Population,  Voting,  State  and  Congressional  Representation 
in  Three  Southern  and  Six  other  Southern  States — Similar 
Tables  for  New  York  and  Massachusetts  and  for  Ohio  and 
Illinois — Bad  Effects  ot  Not  Voting — All  should  be  Encour- 
aged to  Vote — Examples — Ballot  to  Virginia  Negro  Stands  for 
Everything  Great,  Good  and  Glorious — Cultivation  of  Tobacco 
makes  Virginia  Negro  Eager  to  Vote — Cultivation  of  Cotton 
makes  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  Negro  Apathetic — 
Religion  may  make  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  Negro  Indif- 
ferent to  Ballot — Example  of  what  South  Carolina  and  Geor- 
gia Negro  Yields  for  sake  of  Religion — Negroes  of  the  Six 
Southern  States  only  Apostolic  Christians. 

There  is  another  right  the  negro  does  not  fully  enjoy  in 
all  parts  of  the  South:  this  is  the  right  preservative  of  all 
rights — 

THE  RIGHT  OF  THE  BALLOT. 

In  Virginia,  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee,  the  negro, 
led  by  able  and  strong  white  minorities,  exercises  this 
right  freely,  and  as  few  frauds  are  perpetrated  to  his  injury 
as  the  two  parties  North  and  West  practice  against  each 
other.  But  from  South  Carolina  to  Texas,  the  negro 
appears  to  have  been  as  completely  deprived  of  his  electo- 
"  ral  rights  as  have  the  whites  been  deprived  of  his  servile 
labor. 

The  following  tables  would  seem  to  prove  this.  The 
first  table  is  of  the  three  States  where  the  negro  enjoys 
his  electoral  rights;  the  second  one  is  of  the  other  six 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


67 


Southern  States  east  of  the  Mississippi,  where  it  is  believed 
the  negro  is  deprived  of  his  vote: 


Male?.  Twenty-one  and  1 

Jpwards 

Congressional 

Legisla- 

Congr'ss 

Election. 

ture. 

Census  18S0. 

1886. 

1887 

-'8. 

1888-'9. 

—  

o 

o 

S 

atic. 

PI 

c3 
O 

STATES. 

White. 

Black. 

White  V 

Rep.  Vo 

White.  ■ 

Republi 

Democr 

1 

O) 

206,248 

128,257 

102,221 

123,080 

100 

40 

4 

6 

North  Carolina  

189,732 

105,018 

114,811 

8^,393 

98 

72 

7 

2 

250,055 

80,250 

125,457 

105,856 

84 

48 

8 

2 

Total  

646,035 

3:3,525 

342,489 

311.329 

2'^2 

160 

19 

10 

86,900 

118,889 

39,072 

5,960 

153 

6 

7 

177,967 

143,471 

'25,398 

1,895 

189 

30 

10 

34,210 

27,4^^9 

33,385 

23,152 

79 

18 

2 

Alabama  

141,461 

118,423 

62,181 

24,436 

115 

18 

8 

108,810 

63,097 

21,450 

118 

16 

6 

Mississippi  

108,254 

130/278 

34,730 

10,624 

*130 

19 

6 

Total  

657,602 

646,527 

257,863 

87,517 

i  784 

107 

1  39 

*  Legislature  1884-'5. 

We  also  present  a  similar  table  for  two  Northern  and 
two  Western  States,  the  wealthiest,  most  intelligent  and 
most  influential  of  their  respective  sections.  State  elec- 
tions are  given  because  Democrat  and  Republican,  owing 
to  many  side  parties,  do  not  shovv^  total  votes : 


Males  Twenty-one  and  Upwards. 
Census  1880. 


STATES. 


New  York  .  . 
Massachusetts. 

Ohio  

Illinois  .  .  .  . 

Total . 


1,408.571 
502,648 
826.577 
796,827 


3,534,623 


State  Elec- 
tion. 1886. 


970,371 
243,769 
701,429 
570,163 


2,485.732 


Legisla-  !  Congr'ss 

tore. 
1886-'7.  1888-'9. 


66 
93 
58 
87 

304 


94! 
182' 

89^ 
106' 


19 


471  '  31  i  ■"!) 


68  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


We  make  a  comparison  below  between  the  three  groups 
as  follows: 


Males  Twenty-one  and 

Upwards. 

Percentage 

Legisla- 

Congr'ss 

of  Votes. 

ture. 

Census  1880. 

m 

1887-'8. 

1888-'9. 

i 

i 

% 

1 

.1 

STATES. 

M 

osit: 

u 

o 
o 

o 

Whi 

Blac 

Whi 

Opp 

i 

t 

a 

'  Rep- 

Three  Southern  States  

646,035 

313,525 

53 

100 

282 

160 

19 

10 

Six  Southern  States  

657,602 

646.527 

39 

13 

784 

107 

39 

Four  N.  and  Western  States.  .  . 

3,534, 

623 

0 

304 

471 

31 

56 

These  are  suggestive  and  instructive  tables.  Leaving 
out  of  view  altogether  the  question  of  intimidation,  and 
granting  that  there  is  none,  the  question  is  very  pertinent 
wdiether  public  affairs  are  or  can  be  in  a  healthy  or  flour- 
ishing condition  when  citizens  take  so  little  interest  in  poli- 
tics that  only  thirty-nine  per  cent,  of  the  whites  and  only 

"  thirteen  ])qv  cent,  of  the  blacks  voted  in  the  congressional 
election  of  1886?  When  the  citizen  cares  too  little  for 
public  affairs  to  vote,  experience  proves  that  matters  fall 
into  a  deep  rut,  that  abuses  multiply,  and  that  govern- 

~  ment  is  conducted  in  the  interest  of  poHtical  and  corrupt 
rings,  ruled  by  venal  bosses.  The  South  has  abundant 
experience  of  this  fact.  The  financial  officers  of  Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee  and  Alabama  were  defaulters  to  large 
amounts,  and  in  the  financial  department  of  Virginia  one 
treasurer  was  convicted,  though  in  a  subsequent  trial 
acquitted  on  the  plea  of  insanity,  of  stealing,  and  two 
trusted  clerks  were  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  robbing — 
one  had  continued  his  robberies  for  3^ ears  and  to  a  very 
large  amount,  for  onr  treasury  watch  dogs  had  been  nar- 
cotized by  the  uncontrolled  sway  of  one  party  and  were 
sound  asleep.    Uncontrolled  party  sway  inducing  iiidif- 


'Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Xegro. 


69 


fereiice  on  the  part  of  the  voter  begets  favoritism  and 
nepotism,  pttblic  vices  that  Jerierson  condemned  by  word 
and  example.  Thus  in  the  Virginia  capitol  tliere  were 
at  one  time  five_.  perhaps  more,  of  one  family  in  office, 
only  one  of  whom"  was  well  fitted  for  his  place.  They 
were  father  (clerk  of  the  Legislature),  brother  (deputy  ), 
son  (page),  father  who  was  abotit  seventy-five  years  old 
when  appointed,  and  brother-in-law  (clerks  in  auditor's 
office).  The  auditor's  office,  the  great  financial  heart  of 
the  State,  was  presided  over  by  a  gentleman  whose  ability 
never  exceeded  that  of  receiving  teller  of  a  bank,  and  the 
treasurer,  an  old  gentleman  when  put  in  ofiice,  was 
elected  by  the  Legislature  on  the  petition  of  '-had  been" 
endorsed  by  '■sentiment.'"  Of  the  few  deputies  aj)pointed 
by  the  auditor,  one  was  the  old  gentleman  aforesaid,  the 
old  gentleman's  son-in-law,  another  old  gentleman  who 
was  about  seventy-five  when  appointed,  and  a  clerk,  who 
if  not  then  a  thief,  was  afterwards  given  full  and  unlim- 
ited authority  to  rob  the  State  and  spend  the  proceeds  in 
luxurious  livinD;.  AVhen  the  healthv  and  viD:orous  action 
of  the  heart  was  so  impeded  and  impaired,  we  can  well 
imagine  that  the  affairs  of  the  State  in  its  various  mem- 
bers, the  counties,  were  neither  wisely  nor  faithfully 
managed.  Matters  had  become  so  bad  that  a  flood  was 
required  to  wash  them  away.  General  Mahone  saw  and 
seized  the  opportunity,  marshalled  all  the  forces  in  oppo- 
sition, and  soon  had  almost  as  undisputed  sway  as  his 
j^redecessors  previously  had.  The  rotten  dead  wood  was  ^ 
swept  aside,  and  although  the  new  party  had  many  sins, 
arising  principally  because  its  power  was  also  absolute, 
to  answer  for,  it  cannot  be  fairly  claimed  that  the  new 
order  of  affairs  was  worse  than  the  old.  "We  then  had 
so-called  negro  rule,  but  the  Commonwealth  survived, 
and.  in  the  opinion  of  many,  was  much  benefited. 

Public  aftairs  can  prosper  only  when  all  the  citizens 
are  enough  interested  to  vote.    Compare  the  wealth,  pop- 


70  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


ulation  and  influence  of  Ohio  with  that  of  Georgia, 
already  set  forth,  and  see  if  there  may  not  be  some  con- 
nection therewith  in  Ohio's  vote  in  1886  of  701,429 
out  of  a  possible  vote  of  826,577  in  1880,  and  Georgia's 
vote  in  1886  of  27,293  out  of  a  jjossible  vote  of  321,438 
in  1880.  The  six  Southern  States  instead  of  rejoicing, 
as  they  do,  that  they  have  their  black  fellow-citizens 
under  absolute  control,  should  stimulate  all  their  citizens, 
white  as  well  as  black,  for  both  need  stimulation,  to  take 
an  active  and  intelligent  interest  in  public  affairs,  and  to 
show  that  interest  by  voting.  Competition  is  not  only 
the  life  of  trade,  but  competition  of  parties  is  the  life  of 
the  Commonwealth.  The  only  guarantee  of  continued 
good  government  in  free  countries  is  an  active  and  intel- 
ligent interest  in  public  affairs,  and  until  that  interest  is 
excited  and  shown  by  a  full  and  free  vote  public  and 
private  affairs  are  sure  to  languish.  In  Virginia,  North 
Carolina  and  Tennessee  the  opposition  votes  freely,  and 
in  1886  it  cast  its  full  strength  ;  but  these  three  States  are 
inferior  in  no  respect  to  the  six  other  Southern  States,  but 
on  the  contrary  are  more  prosperous  and  more  influential 
in  public  affairs.  Let  the  South  revert  to  correct  polit- 
"  ical  principles,  and  she  will  not  suffer,  notwithstanding 
all  the  dire  prophecies  we  hear  from  the  ruling  caste. 

But,  coming  back  to  the  question  of  intimidation,  are 
the  negroes  intimidated  and  deprived  of  the  ballot;  or 
have  they  really  lost  their  love  of  voting?  We  cannot 
s.  /,  but  certain  it  is  that  something  has  changed  their 
tastes  in  this  respect. 

There  is  said  to  be  a  great  deal  of  human  nature  in 
the  white  man,  and  there  probably  is  a  great  deal  in  the 
negro,  too;  but  then,  again,  there  may  not  be,  and  judg- 
ing by  the  difference  in  his  voting  in  the  two  groups  of 
States,  it  is  only  fair  to  conclude  either  that  there  is  very 
]  iltle  human  nature  in  some  negroes,  or  that  some  negroes 
are  not  human  beings.    General  Henry  A.  Wise,  the 


Vpoyi  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


71 


distinguished  father  of  the  Hon.  John  S.,  was  of  the 
opinion  that  negroes  were  not  human  beings,  but  were 
Ebo  Shins  or  Gizzard  Foots;  wliatever  they  may  be, 
though  certainly  things  utterly  beneath  the  regard  of  the 
noble  Caucasian,  and  he  was  probably  correct. 

In  A^'irginia  the  negro,  or  Ebo  Shin,  is  infatuated  with 
the  ballot,  and  he  seldom  lets  one  pass  without  casting  it. 
The  ballot  to  him  is  the  epitome  of  all  that  is  good  and 
noble.  It  stands  in  his  eyes  for  deliverance  from  bond- 
age; for  wealth  and  honor;  for  public  schools  and 
churches ;  for  military  and  benevolent  societies — it  stands 
in  his  eyes  not  only  for  everything  he  enjoys  and  hopes 
to  enjoy,  but  for  everything  he  has  escaped.  Thus  look- 
ing upon  the  ballot,  he  prizes  it  above  all  his  other  earthly 
advantages,  and  when  properly  led  and  directed  he  would 
on  no  account  forego  the  privilege  of  casting  his  vote. 
Crops  suffering  for  work  will  not  detain  him  from  the 
polls,  nor  fatigue  nor  illness,  unless  actually  confined  to 
bed,  nor  even  bribes;  but,  like  a  well-drilled  phalanx,  he 
marches  up  solidly,  and  votes  solidly,  too.  Sometimes, 
of  course,  apathy  overtakes  the  negroes  as  it  it  does  all 
other  parties,  and  he  may  then  be  influenced  by  many 
reasons  to  remain  away  from  the  polls,  or  to  vote  with 
the  whites;  but  let  their  leaders  get  them  well  in  hand, 
and  one  had  as  well  try  to  stop  a  stampede  of  soldiers  or 
animals  as  to  endeavor  to  keep  them  from  voting  their 
party  ticket. 

The  ballot  also  means  honor,  for  thereby  he  is  raised 
from  his  low  estate  to  proud  positions  of  honor,  and  he 
becomes  magistrate,  assemblyman,  congressman,  one  of 
the  lawmakers  of  a  great  country.  Aladdin's  cave  itself 
affords  no  more  enchanting  temptation  than  does  the 
ballot  ofter  to  the  Virginia  negro.  Yesterday  a  slave  in 
chains,  the  ballot  to-day  seats  him  in  the  august  halls  of 
Congress.  Fancy  herself  nowhere  discloses  a  n:iore 
striking  transformation,  and  it  is  only  comparable  to 


72  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


nature  when  it  unfolds  the  brilliant  moth  from  the  hid- 
eous grub. 

The  ballot  also  means  emolument;  no,  not  that,  it 
means  fabulous  riches;  for  the  negro  who  to-day  may  be 
sweating  in  the  field  for  $8.00  a  month,  or  at  most  $25.00 
or  $30.00  as  porter,  may  to-morrow  be  given  an  office 
worth  $1,000  or  more  a  year,  or  he  may  be  elected  to  the 
Legislature,  w^here  in  one  day  he  makes,  without  labor, 
almost  the  wages  of  a  month,  or  he  may  be  elected  to 
Congress,  where  the  fabulous  sum  of  $5,000  a  year  and 
perquisites  awaits  him — and  all  by  the  grace  of  the  ballot. 
A  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey  is  nothing  to  these 
possibilities.  It  is  like  being  beside  the  river  Pactolus, 
where  one  has  only  to  stretch  out  his  hands  and  gather 
the  golden  sands.  It  is  more  to  him  than  was  Jerusalem 
to  the  Jew,  or  is  mecca  to  the  Mussulman,  or  is  heaven  to 
the  Christian.  Can  we  marvel,  then,  that  the  negro  natu- 
rally values  the  ballot  so  highly? 

In  all  this  the  negro  betrays  a  great  deal  of  human 
nature,  and  therefore  one  must  say  that  the  Virginia 
negro  is  a  human  being;  but  when  we  approach  the 
South  Carolina  or  Georgia  negro  we  are  completely  mys- 
tified, and  in  spite  of  our  love  for  all  God's  creatures, 
whether  man,  beast,  or  fish,  we  are  not  prepared  to  deny 
any  charge  that  may  be  brought  against  the  humanity  of 
the  negro  of  these  States.  Let  us  examine  this  species  of 
negro.  In  hair,  in  color,  and  in  other  physical  respects 
he  is  like  the  Virginia  species,  but  when  we  investigate 
his  mental  characteristics  the  resemblance  entirely 
ceases. 

A  thought  here  occurs.  Science  tells  us  that  all  nature 
is  merely  the  creature  of  its  constant  surroundings.  The 
Virginia  negro  makes  tobacco,  and  has  been  making  it 
for  hundreds  of  years.  Tbe  South  Carolina  and  Georgia 
negro  makes  cotton,  and  lias  been  making  it  for  a  century. 
Now  can  it  be  possible  that  the  different  environments  of 


TJpon  the  Elevation  of  (lie  Negro. 


73 


tobacco  and  cotton  make  all  the  vast  difference  that  we 
observe  between  the  two  negroes?  It  is  not  only  possi- 
ble, but  it  must  be  the  cause,  and  he  is  willfully  iDlind  or 
imbecile  who  does  not  see  it. 

The  modern  world  contends  that  communities  that  vote 
are  superior  to  those  that  do  not  vote.  Communities 
being  merely  citizens  in  the  aggregate,  it  follows  that  the 
Virginia  negroes  are  superior  to  the  negroes  of  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia,  and  it  further  follows  that  tobacco 
elevates  and  that  cotton  degrades.  Thus  it  follows 
further,  that  those  who  denounce  tobacco  as  the  greatest 
evil  except  polygamy  and  whiskey,  and  those  who  forbid 
tobacco-loving  preachers  exhorting  sinners  to  flee  from 
the  wrath  to  come,  are  altogether  mistaken.  The  world 
must  change  its  bearings  and  its  attitude,  and  instead  of 
anathematizing  tobacco,  it  should  preach  a  crusade  in 
its  favor,  and  should  encourage  its  cultivation  and  its 
use,  seeing  what  a  great  work  it  has  wrought  in  the  ele- 
vation of  the  Virginia  negro.  But  we  must  compound 
for  sins  we  are  inclined  to  by  damning  those  we  have  no 
mind  to,  and  as  the  world  must  denounce  something,  let 
it  denounce  cotton  and  renounce  its  use,  seeing  the  mis- 
chief it  has  wrought  with  the  civic  virtues  of  the  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia  negroes,  who  apparently  have  for- 
gotten that  they  ever  possessed  such  a  thing  as  a  ballot. 

But  if  the  tobacco  and  cotton  theory  does  not  satisfy, 
let  us  try  the  theory  of  religion.  The  negro  is  deeply 
emotional,  and  his  thoughts  dwell  much  in  the  spirit 
land.  In  his  dreams,  which  are  many,  and  which  are  not 
confined  to  the  watches  of  the  night,  he,  like  Jacob,  wres- 
tles with  the  angel,  and,  like  Jacob,  he  has  a  ladder  resting 
on  his  prostrate  body  and  extending  into  heaven,  upon 
which  angels  ascend  and  descend  and  camp  around  him. 

When  walking  through  the  dark  shadows  of  the  forest 
in  the  deep  silence  of  night,  he  sees  ghosts  flitting  now 
before  and  now  behind  him,  and  on  his  right  hand  and  on 
4 


74  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


his  left  hand  these  spiritual  beings  accompany  him.  He 
lives  in  constant  intercourse  with  the  unseeable  world  and 
his  prayers  are  answered  literally  and  speedily.  Tlie 
impenetrable  veil  that  divides  us  from  the  so-called  dade 
is  for  him  scarcely  more  than  a  veil  of  gauze  through 
which  he  sees  easily,  if  not  clearly.  He  is  a  pilgrim  and 
a  stranger  here;  his  home  is  there — in  the  skies.  Here 
all  things  are  transitory  and  perishing;  there  all  things 
are  permanent  and  immortal.  The  illimitable  future  and 
not  the  finite  present,  notwithstanding  all  its  carnal 
delights,  which,  however,  he  enjoys  so  meagerly,  is  the 
reality  to  him. 

Now  is  it  not  very  probable  that  the  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia  negro,  having  such  views,  cannot  interest  him- 
self in  such  worldly  matters  as  elections,  and  that  he  does 
not  vote,  not  because  he  is  intimidated,  but  because  of  his 
intense  desire  to  win  the  spiritual  race  that  is  set  before 
him,  and  therefore  he  voluntarily  lays  aside  every  weight 
that  besets  him,  and  he  fears  to  voie.  lest  being  embroiled 
in  the  snares  of  political  strife  and  ambition  through 
which  he  passed  for  a  number  of  years,  he  may  forget  his 
high  calling  and  thus  lose  the  crown. 

The  Virginia  negroes,  to  whom  we  add  the  North  Caro- 
lina and  Tennessee  negro,  being  the  same  species,  having 
been  elevated,  as  we  have  seen,  by  the  cultivation  and  use  of 
tobacco,  prove  their  claims  to  humanity  by  entering  boldly 
the  political  arena  and,  though  he  numbers  only  half  as 
many  as  the  whites,  by  securing  for  himself  and  friends 
160  to  282  legislative  seats  and  ten  to  nineteen  congres- 
sional seats.  But  the  spiritualized  South  Carolina  negro, 
although  he  numbered  in  1880, 118,889  to  86,900  whites, 
both  of  voting  age,  tramples  worldly  honors  and  consid- 
erations under  foot,  and  reserves  for  himself  and  friends 
only  six  out  of  159  legislative  seats,  and  he  surrenders  all 
the  congressional  seats.  Five  thousand  dollars  a  3^ear  is 
no  temptation  to  him,  but  he  prefers  his  humble  cabin, 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


75 


his  plain  and  scanty  fare  and  his  small  wages,  provided 
he  may  meekly  cultivate  the  Christian  graces  and  humbly 
pursue  the  path  to  glory.  If  anybody's  soul  is  to  be  lost 
through  the  wicked  wiles  and  temptations  of  AVashingtou, 
he  is  resolved  it  shall  not  be  his  soul,  and  he  allows  with- 
out a  pang  his  white  brother,  who,  however,  repudiates 
the  relationship,  to  enjoy  those  great  and  worldly  prizes. 
The  mighty  Cincinnatus  achieved  imperishable  renown 
by  preferring  his  plow  to  all  the  honors  and  rewards  the 
Mistress  of  the  AVorld  could  confer,  but  here  is  a  stranger 
sight  still:  thousands  of  unknown,  unheard  of,  and  unsung 
black  Cincinnati  renouncing  all  that  this  world  can  con- 
fer in  order  to  lead  pious  lives. 

But  some  will  say  religion  cannot  be  the  cause,  for  if 
so,  why  should  the  negroes  of  Virginia  eagerly  snatch  all 
the  honors  and  rewards  politics  can  give,  while  the 
negroes  of  South  Carolina  despise  them  all?  This  is  an 
easy  question.  The  difference  is  owing  simply  to  the  fact 
that  the  spirit  of  Mahone  operates  in  the  first  group  of 
States,  and  that  the  spirit  of  Sam  Jones  and  Sam  Small 
operates  in  the  other  group. 

Followers  are  necessarily  like  leaders,  because  leaders 
are  merely  the  exponent  of  prevailing  sentiment. 

Now  Mahone,  as  is  well  known,  is  not  only  unorthodox, 
but  he  is  also  extremely  carnal,  and  seizes  all  the  good 
things  of  life  without  consulting  conscience,  eating  what 
is  set  before  him  without  asking  Cjuestions.  He  does  not 
ask»c[uestions  on  account  of  scruples  but  to  save  time;" 
for  if  it  suited  his  purposes  he  would  not  only  eat  the 
meat  offered  to  idols,  but  also  the  idols  themselves. 

On  the  contrary,  the  two  Sams  are  intensely  spirituaL 
They  are  forever  hunting  the  devil;  they  spy  him  in 
every  bush,  and  when  found  they  attack  him  so  vehe- 
mently he  ignominiously  flies.  Repent,  renoimce  your 
sins,  seek  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  is  t^-icir  constant 
refrain;  fly  for  your  lives,  the  devil  is  right  a":;r  you,  and 


76  Tlie  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


if  you  don't  step  right  lively  lie  has  you  sure,  and  then, 
oh,  my  soul,  the  rest  is  too  frightful  to  coRtemplate. 
Sam  Jones  has  evidently  impressed  his  ideas  indelibly 
upon  all  the  people,  for  even  the  whites  do  not  vote,  only 
25,398  having  voted  in  Georgia  in  1886,  although  fortu- 
nately they  alone  enjoy  all  the  public  offices.  Mahone 
has  demoralized  all  his  negroes,  and  Sam  Jones  has 
spiritualized  all  his.  Mahone's  negroes  are  carnal,  and 
therefore  they  clutch  at  everything  within  their  reach; 
Sam  Jones'  negroes  are  thoroughly  spiritualized,  and  they 
therefore  take  nothing  within  their  grasp.  The  fact  that 
the  negroes  of  the  six  Southern  States  do  not  vote  must 
be  attributed  solely  to  the  disinterested  effects  of  religion. 
It  cannot  be  owing  to  intimidation,  for  the  whites  them- 
selves scarcely  vote,  and  who  intimidates  them  ? 

By  the  way,  nobody,  we  think,  can  fail  from  the  fore- 
going exhibit  to  be  convinced  that  the  negroes  of  the  six 
Southern  States  are  the  only  true  apostolic  Christians 
now  living.  Holy  Writ  teaches  us  plainly  that  we  cannot 
serve  God  and  mammon.  To  white  Christians  this  deliv- 
erance of  divinity  has  little  significance;  for,  while  seek- 
ing the  kingdom  of  Heaven,  they  never  fail  to  hold  on 
tightly  to  all  the  good  things  of  this  world,  and  instead 
of  entering  heaven  by  prayer,  as  the  good  hymn  says, 
and  with  garments  pure  and  white,  they  enter  it,  or 
think  they  do,  with  garments  bespotted  with  grovelling 
tastes  and  passions,  and  with  the  rank  odor  of  earth 
clinging  to  them  as  the  smell  of  musk  clings  to  the*vul- 
garian  using  it.  But  to  the  South  Carolina  negroes  this 
injunction  is  of  living  force,  and,  believing  they  cannot 
serve  two  masters,  they  yield  allegiance  unreservedly  to 
the  higher  Master,  Christ,  and  absolutely  renounce  the 
world.    Thus  did  the  Apostles. 


upon  the  Elevation  of  Vie  yegro. 


Chapter  XIII. 

\Viiy  Xegro  Elevation  does  not  mean  Xegro  Rtile — Total  Change 
of  Condition  between  1S65-7S  and  1S7S-SS — Statement  of 
Changed  Conditions — If  a  Free  Vote  means  Xegro  Ivule, 
then  Xegro  Rule  Prevails  Over  Eastern  Virginia — Examj^.le 
of  the  Black  Belt,  or  Fourth  Congressional  District  in  Vir- 
ginia— A  Free  Ballot  not  Injtirions  to  Virginia  and  Tennessee — 
Vhy  Xegroes  are  Inimical  to  Whites — Color  Line  the  Work 
of  Whites — Statesmanship  Impossible  while  Color  Line  Con- 
tinues. 

But.  laying  aside  badinage  and  irony,  let  us  say  with- 
out circumlocution,  that  the  negroes  of  the  six  Southern 
States  are  intimidated  and  deprived  of  their  ballots,  for  ' 
the  whites  not  only  acknowledge  the  fact,  but  plainly 
declare  and  believe  that  the  negroes  should  be  thus 
deprived  in  order  to  preserve  stable  and  civilized  govern- 
ment. If  their  fears  are  well  grounded,  then  they  are 
perfectly  right  in  their  course:  for  the  first  duty  of  man 
is  to  save  the  State,  for  a  well  governed  State  is  the  only 
soil  in  which  permanent  prosperity  can  flourish.  The 
whites  reason  as  follows:  At  tlie  close  of  a  four-years"  war 
we  found  ourselves  not  only  thoroughly  exhausted,  but 
also  completely  prostrate  at  the  feet  of  our  enemies.  AVe 
found  the  negroes,  everywhere  numerous,  but  in  many 
23lace3  and  in  some  States  in  the  majority,  freed  from 
slavery,  and  then  made  citizens;  and  we  found  that 
carpet-baggers  and  scalawags,  by  the  aid  of  the  negroes, 
naturally  crazed  with  their  freedom  and  its  illimitable 
possibilities,  got  en -ire  comr/d  nf  State,  municipal  r^ud 
county  affairs,  and  by  frauds  and  robberies  of  every  hind 


78  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


made  almost  a  complete  wreck  of  organized  society ;  and 
because  all  these  dreadful  things  happened  when  Federal 
troops  were  everywhere,  and  when  a  simple  lieutenant's 
sword  was  weightier  and  mightier  than  the  voice  of  any 
community ;  when  we  were  completely  cowed,  and  did 
not  know  how  soon  any  of  us  might  be  arrested  and 
1  landed  over  to  the  military;  when  the  negroes  were 
totally  ignorant  and  necessarily  intoxicated  with  their 
freedom;  when  the  passions  of  war  were  still  active  and 
bitter,  and  when  our  conquerors  were  only  too  eager  to  find 
cause  of  complaint  against  us ;  when  the  greed  of  carpet- 
baggers and  the  greed  and  vindictiveness  of  scalawags 
and  refugee  Unionists  knew  little  or  no  restraint — because 
such  things  happened  in  such  a  state  of  affairs,  when 
even  worse  things  might  have  been  apprehended,  prop- 
erty and  not  life  having  been  sacrificed,  therefore  similar 
things  will  happen,  when  the  whites  are  no  longer  inferi- 
ors, suspected  and  under  martial  law;  when  there  are  no 
longer  carpet-baggers  and  scalawags  to  lead  the  negroes 
to  their  own  ruin  as  well  as  that  of  the  community ;  when 
the  negroes  themselves  have  learned  they  can  never  rule 
the  whites,  and  when,  above  all,  we  have  all  the  State 
governments  in  our  hands,  and  for  years  have  had  at 
least  one  branch  of  the  National  Government  to  protect 
us  from  unfriendly  legislation.  To  argue  thus  is  to  be 
absolutely  illogical — is  to  be  without  even  the  shadow  of  a 
foundation  to  rest  upon.  To  take  the  ground  that  having 
the  power  we  intend  to  keep  it,  right  or  wrong,  is  easy  of 
comprehension,  for  we  see  that  the  law  of  the  strongest 
unfortunately  still  prevails  too  much  everywhere,  but  for 
reasonable  men  to  argue  that  similar  results  will  follow 
almost  totally  dissimilar  causes  is  indeed  incomprehensi- 
ble. If  modern  philosophy  agrees  on  any  one  point  it  is 
on  this :  that  similar  effects  can  result  only  from  simi- 
lar causes,  acting  in  a  similar  way  on  similar  objects; 
change  any  single  one  of  the  conditions  and  the  effects 
are  necessarily  different. 


the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


79 


Now,  are  not  the  conditions  of  the  period  from  I8G0  to 
the  end  of  the  Grant  administration  and  of  the  period  of 
1876  to  tlie  present  different  ahnost  as  east  is  from  west? 
And,  being  so  different,  how  can  any  man  who  claims  to 
be  reasonable  fear  a  return  of  the  evil  days  of  recon- 
struction by  allowing  the  negroes  their  free  right  of 
voting  ? 

Look  at  a  few  of  the  changed  conditions: 

THEN.  NOW. 

Crushed,   demoralized  and  dis-  Confident  and  disciplined, 
organized. 

Martial  law.  Civil  law. 

Hostile  administration  and  leg-  Friendly    administration  and 

islature.  House. 

Hostile  judiciary  and  marshals.  Friendly  judiciary   and  mar- 
shals. 

Hostile  State  governments  and  State  governments  in  our  abso- 

legislatures.  lute  control. 

Xegroes  intoxicated  with  their  Negroes  sobered  and  humbled 

freedom  and  unbounded  in      by  experience — wiser. 

their  anticipations. 

Carpet-baggers  and  scalawags  Carpet-baggers  and  scalawags 

in  full  control,  things  of  memory. 

To  perceive  all  these  changed  conditions  and  to  be 
afraid  of  a  return  of  former  evil  days  is  to  prove  that  we 
are  cowards,  not  Anglo-Saxons,  or,  if  we  are  Anglo- 
Saxons,  that  we  are  not  worthy  of  our  ancestry;  to  per- 
ceive them  and  to  be  unwilling  to  restore  the  freedom  of 
the  ballot  to  the  negro  is  to  commit  a  crime  against  free- 
dom ;  and  not  to  see  them  v,'hen  they  are  thrust  before 
our  eyes  is  to  prove  that  we  are  blind,  and  that,  like 
blind  leaders,  w^e  will  lead  the  State  into  a  ditch. 

To  allow— yea,  to  encourage — the  negroes  to  vote  freely 
will  not  throw  the  State  into  the  hands  of  the  ignorant 
and  corrupt,  though  the  personnel  of  office-holders  will 
be  considerably  changed.  The  most  violent  of  the  oppo- 
nents of  negro  suffrage  are  and  will  be  the  office-holding 
and  seeking  class  and  their  friends, who  will  cry,  "Wolf! 


80  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


wolf!"  and  who  will  frighten  most  the  majority,  com- 
posed of  well-meaning  hut  timid  people. 

But  we  are  not  left  solely  to  reasoning  in  this  matter, 
for,  fortunately,  we  have  experience  to  guide  us.  If  the 
averment  that  freedom  of  the  ballot  for  negroes  means 
negro  rule,  then  we  have  negro  rule  in  the  greater  portion 
of  Eastern  Virginia.  Ah !  yes ;  and  you  are  greatly  sur- 
prised, are  you  not?  For  we  have  conjured  up  in  our 
minds  the  idea  that  negro  rule  is  some  monstrous  ogre 
that  remorselessly  devours  everything  that  is  good  and 
desirable,  and  that  scatters  broadcast  everything  that  is 
bad  and  baleful,  and  we  cannot  discover  such  a  dreadful 
state  of  affairs  anywhere  near  us. 

But  if  freedom  of  ballot  means,  as  is  generally  asserted, 
<  negro  rule,  then  we  must  have  negro  rule  in  the  greater 
portion  of  Eastern  Virginia,  because  nobody  claims  that 
the  negroes  are  intimidated  or  materially  hindered  from 
voting  in  Virginia,  and  nobody  denies  that  the  negroes 
vote  solidly  for  their  party.  Therefore,  if  the  negroes 
have  the  majority  in  any  counties,  and  if  they  are  not 
intimidated,  and  if  they  vote  solidly  for  their  party,  then 
all  counties  with  negro  majorities  must,  as  a  rule,  be 
under  negro  rule.  Having  a  majority,  not  being  intimi- 
dated from  casting  that  majority,  and  actually  casting 
that  majority  freely,  there  can  be  no  possible  escape  from 
the  actual  fact  of  negro  rule. 

Now,  are  there  any  counties  in  Virginia  where  negroes 
are  in  the  majority?  Referring  to  United  States  census 
1880  we  find  there  are  forty-two  counties  in  Eastern 
Virginia,  where  the  negroes  are  in  an  absolute  majority, 
and  where,  being  free  to  vote,  there  is  consequently  negro 
rule  in  posse  if  not  in  esse. 

But  let  us  take  the  example  of  the  fourth  congres- 
sional district,  where  the  negro  majorities  are  so  large 
that  negro  rule  exists  not  only  in  posse,  but  also  in 
esse. 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


81 


Thus: 


Counties. 

Amelia  .  .  .  . 
BruDswick  .  . 
Dinwiddie  .  .  . 
Greenesville  .  . 
Lunenburg.  .  . 
Mecklenburg  . 
Nottoway  .  .  . 
Powhatan  .  .  . 
Prince  Edward 
Prince  George  . 
Sussex    .  .  .  . 


White.  Black. 


3,037  7,340 

6,022  10,685 

14.457  18,428 

2,757  5,650 

4,611  6,924 

8,222  16,3S8 

3,012  8,144 

2,726  5,091 

4,754  9,914 

3,255  6,799 

3,361  6,701 


Total 


56,214  102,064 


Now,  nobody  can  dispute  that  if  the  negroes  are  not 
intimidated,  that  if  they  vote  freely,  and  that  if,  gener- 
ally, the}^  vote  in  a  solid  body,  that  here  must  be  negro 
rule;  or,  if  they  deny  negro  rule  here,  where  else  in  the 
South  can  they  possibly  fear  negro  rule  ?  If  nearly  two 
negroes  to  one  white  does  not,  with  a  free  ballot,  consti- 
tute, negro  rule,  then  ten  negroes  to  one  white  does  not 
mean  negrO'  rule;  or  if  negro  rule  is  escaped  where  this 
proportion  of  the  colors  exists,  then  negro  rule  will  be 
escaped  anywhere  and  everywhere  in  the  South.  Or  if 
negro  rule  does  not  mean  destructive  government,  where 
is  the  sense  of  representing  negro  rule  as  a  return  to 
reconstruction  days,  where  not  government  but  almost 
anarchy  reigned  ? 

If  negro  rule  means  all,  or  nearly  all,  the  economic, 
political  and  social  ills,  or  even  partially,  that  the  oppo-  ^ 
nents  of  negro  suffrage  delight  so  much  in  picturing, 
then  this  fourth  congressional  district  must  be  in  a 
most  lamentable  condition — must  be  a  cancerous  spot  on 
the  fair  form  of  Virginia  that  saps  her  whole  prosperity. 
The  fourth  district  may  be  in  this  condition,  but  before 
deciding  let  us  compare  it  with  the  ninth  congressional 
district,  a  strictly  white  as  the  fourth  is  a  strictly  black 
district,  which  contains  per  census  of  1888:  Whites, 
133,055;  blacks,   17,549.    Total,   160,604.    And  with 


82  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


some  facts  contained  in  report  of  auditor  of  public 
accounts  for  the  year  ending  September  30,  1886.  The 
population  of  the  two  districts  is  very  nearly  the  same. 
Negro  rule  being  the  logical  and  necessary  result  of  unre- 
stricted suffrage,  we,  of  course,  find  in  this  fourth  district 
material  ruin  and  moral  degradation,  and  the  annual 
report  of  the  financial  officer  of  the  State  must  show  both 
conditions  to  prevail,  or,  if  it  does  not,  then  the  report  must 
be  of  no  value,  or  those  who  talk  so  glibly  and  so  mourn- 
fully about  negro  rule  are  false  guides  and  erring  prophets. 

If  the  fourth  district  is  ruined  financially  it  can  j3ay 
no  taxes,  but  the  auditor  either  falsifies  the  returns  or 
the  two  districts  pay  into  the  State  treasury  as  follows : 

For  State.       For  Schools.  Total. 
Fourth  District— Black  .  .  .   $74,988         55,770  $130,758 
Ninth  District— Whites  .  .  .     65,609         50,862  116,471 

So,  then,  it  would  appear  that  negro  rule,  which  is 
synonymous  with  unrestricted  suffrage,  does  not  ruin  to 
such  an  extent  that  it  cannot  contribute  its  fair  share  to 
public  burdens  and  to  public  schools. 

But,  then,  negro  rule  or  unrestricted  suffrage  means 
official  robbery  and  general  demoralization,  and  perhaps 
this  is  the  state  of  affairs  in  the  fourth  district,  and,  if 
so,  the  criminal  charges  ought  to  be  very  large.  The 
auditor  of  the  State  reports  in  Table  No.  19  the  amounts 
he  paid  out  for  such  expenses  in  1886,  and  the  followini^^ 
comparison  is  made:  Fourth  district,  $22,173;  ninth 
district,  $33,376. 

So,  then,  it  would  seem  that  an  unrestricted  vote  and  a 
fair  count— -or,  in  other  words,  negro  rule— renders  the 
fourth  district  not  much  worse  off  eithei:'  financially  or 
morally  than  the  ninth  district,  where  the  negroes  are 
few;  and  although  of  late  years  we  hear  of  little  else 
than  of  the  great  boom  in  Southwest  Virginia,  it  must  be 
confessed  that  if  the  figures  of  our  auditor  are  correct 
the  fourth  district  is  as  happy,  moral  and  well  off  as  the 
great  ninth  district. 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


83 


Those  who  go  around  wearing  the  frightful  scare-face 
of  negro  rule  are  doubtless  honest  in  their  apprehensions, 
but  they  are  nevertheless  doing  an  untold  amount  of  evil 
to  the  South,  which  they  love  well  but  not  wisely. 

The  fear  of  negro  rule  in  the  sense  of  the  alarmists  is 
a  wild  and  pernicious  chimera,  and  the  experience  in  the 
fourth  district  ought  to  convince  any  honest  man  that  it 
is.  The  negro  appears  to  have  no  ambition  to  rule,  for 
when  he  has  the  majority  his  almost  invariable  practice 
is  to  give  the  offices  to  the  most  capable  white  men  in  his 
party,  and  when  he  cannot  get  good  men  from  his  own 
ranks  he  selects  worthy  Democrats,  and  remains  con- 
tented with  the  crumbs  that  fall  from  the  official  table  or 
with  the  bones  and  fragments  his  white  leaders  throw  him. 

The  six  Southern  States  have  no  more  to  fear  from  a 
free  and  fair  ballot  than  has  the  Fourth  Virginia  Dis- 
trict, and  if  they  are  wise  they  will  not  only  permit,  but 
they  will  encourage,  the  negroes  to  vote;  for  it  is  only  by 
inspiring  all  the  people  with  interest  in  public  affairs  that 
they  can  expect  prosperity.  The  three  States  of  Virginia, 
North  Carolina  and  Tennessee,  Vv^here  the  opposition  cast 
its  full  vote  in  1886,  are  no  less  prosperous  than  are  the 
six  Southern  States  where  the  opposition  cast  only  thirteen 
per  cent,  of  its  vote  in  188G ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  they 
exhibit  greater  progress  and  prosperity,  and  certainly  as 
much  moral  and  intellectual  development. 

The  negroes  are  against  us  simply  because  we  treat 
them  not  as  citizens,  but  as  creatures  who  have  no  rights 
we  are  bound  to  respect.  But  let  us  respect  their  rights, 
and  they  will  gladly  cooperate  with  us.  But  as  long  as 
public  affairs  are  conducted  on  the  color  line,  which  is  in 
reality  simply  an  appeal  to  passion,  prejudice  and  selfish 
interests  of  the  lowest  kind,  the  negroes  will  remain  solid. 
Wisdom  and  statesmanship  can  then  have  little  voice  in 
their  management,  for  the  color  line  deliberately  banishes 
them  from  the  council  chamber  and  the  legislature  alike. 


84 


The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


Chapter  XIV, 

Negro  not  a  Competent  Voter  ;  neither  are  Millions  of  White 
Voters  ;  but  Ballot  Absolutely  Essential  to  his  Freedom- 
Ruin  of  the  Commonwealth  that  Degrades  its  Citizens— Tyr- 
anny Destroys  the  State  and  Demoralizes  the  Citizens— South- 
erners cannot  Escape  the  Demoralizing  Effects  of  Tyranny. 

But  the  negro  is  not  a  competent  voter,  and  he  should 
never  have  been  entrusted  with  the  ballot.  That  he  is 
not  an  intelligent  voter  in  the  sense  of  foreseeing  the 
necessity  of  wise  laws,  or  of  perceiving  their  bearings  on 
all  points,  is  readily  admitted  ;  but,  then,  who  among  our 
millions  of  white  voters,  when  tested  by  this  standard, 
are  competent?  Very  few,  indeed;  and  very  few  of  the 
legislators  and  congressmen  to  whom  we  depute  the 
making  of  our  laws  are.  >  But  that  the  negro,  as  long  as 
ho  was  not  to  be  a  slave,  should  have  the  ballot  was 
a  matter  of  absolute  necessity ;  for  if  he  had  no  ballot  to 
})rotect  his  newly  acquired  freedom,  how  long  could  he 
keep  it  in  the  midst  of  powerful  enemies,  who  regarded 
him  with  bitter  hostility,  because,  though  once  practi- 
cally supreme  master  of  his  time,  limb  and  life,  they 
could  not  then  command  his  simplest  movements  ?  The 
negroes  would  in  that  case  have  been  literally  sheep  with 
wolves  for  their  shepherds.  The  ballot  was,  and  is,  as 
absolutely  essential  for  freedom  as  is  the  atmosphere  for 
life;  but  let  us  not  fondly  imagine  that  while  rendering 
or  seeking  to  render  this  right  nugatory,  and  while  con- 
sequently degrading  the  negroes,  we  are  not  injuring 
ourselves. 

It  is  doubtless  very  gratifying  to  our  baser  nature  to 


Lpon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


85 


control  absolutely  the  actions  of  a  whole  class  of  our 
fellow-creatures;  but  the  enjoyment  is  suicidal,  and  it 
will  end  in  our  moral  enfeeblement  and  in  our  material 
impoverishment,  for  ruin  must  follow  communities  that 
persistently  degrade  any  large  portion  of  its  citizens. 
Tyranny,  whether  national  or  individual,  degrades  not 
only  those  imposed  upon,  but  it  also  denioralizes  the 
doers  of  tlie  wrong,  for  nobody  can  deliberately  wrong 
another  without  feeling  humiliated  himself,  although  the 
constant  perpetration  of  injustice  soon  renders  one  cal- 
lous to  the  sense  of  right  and  wrong.  History  represents 
both  Xero  and  Prince  Hal  as  promising  youths  ;  btit  after 
a  while  the  practice  of  injustice  so  changed  these  fair 
young  men  they  became  monsters  of  iniquity  and 
by-words  of  depravity;  and  so,  in  a  measure,  Southerners 
cannot  escape  a  certain  mental  and  moral  oblicjuity.  a 
certain  lowering  of  the  sense  of  right  and  wrong,  hy  con- 
tinuing deliberately  to  deprive  their  negro  fellow-citizens 
of  the  greatest  and  most  valuable  of  all  their  rights — 
narrnrly,  t lie  right  of  suffrage;  and  when  the  moral  tone 
is  lo^veredall  their  undertakings  must  necessarily  be  inju- 
riously affected  thereby. 

History  is  one  long  record  of  the  fact  that  privilege,  » 
whether  founded  on  brute  force  and  stamped  only  on  the 
fickle  mind  of  the  unbridled  savage  or  cruel  despot,  or 
whether  deeply  imprinted  on  the  social  mind  in  the 
guise  of  unyielding  caste,  or  whether  crystallized  iri 
deliberate  laws  upon  the  statute  book,  has  this  dual 
effect  of  degrading  and  debasing  the  lower  and  of  demor- 
alizing and  finally  of  debasing  the  higher,  the  grand 
finale  being  the  stagnation  or  destruction  of  the  State-; 
and  can  the  South  expect  to  escape  such  consequences  if 
it  per-'ists  in  maintaining  its  practical  oligarchy  (all  oli- 
garchies have  been  short-lived),  whereby,  though  all  are 
alike  in  tlie  contemplation  of  law,  at  least  half  of  the 
population  of  six  States  is  pi'actically  deprived  of  the 


86  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 

most  sacred  right  of  freemen — the- right  freely  to  declare 
its  voice  at  the  polls. 

If  the  South  desires  prosperity  it  must,  granting  that 
the  negroes  are  not  intimidated,  encourage  them  to  take 
interest  in  public  affairs,  and  to  show  their  interest  by 
voting;  and  granting  that  the  negroes  are  intimidated,  it 
is  our  double  duty  to  put  a  stop  to  the  suicidal  practice, 
for  in  these  days  of  active  competition  the  South  needs 
the  active  and  intelligent  cooperation  of  all  its  citizens  in 
order  to  prosper,  but  if  by  intimidation  we  cripple  the 
hopes  and  ambition  of  half  the  people  who  are  our  prin- 
cipal dependence  for  labor,  we  have  nothing  to  hope  for 
but  disaster.  As  well  hamstring  a  horse  or  mule  and 
expect  work  from  it  as  to  expect  valuable  resuhs  from 
degraded  and  hopeless  labor. 

But  the  negro  has  all  his  rights— let  him  use  them. 
Yes,  he  has  them  nominally,  but  the  principal  one,  the 
ballot,  is  held  pretty  much  on  the  following  tenure: 

An  officer  on  one  occasion  called  for  volunteers  from 
his  assembled  command  for  some  desperate  work.  He 
invited  all  who  were  unwilling  to  volunteer  to  step  to  the 
front,  but  he  added,  with  a  Sheridan  oath,  that  he  would 
shoot  the  first  man  that  did  so.  If  one  is  to  be  slain  for 
not  volunteering,  he  prefers  to  go  along  and  take  chances; 
and  so  the  negro  thinks  that  if  he  is  to  be  intimidated 
and  even  killed  for  exercising  his  nominal  rights,  he  had 
better  forego  them  altogether. 

The  South  will  look  in  vain  for  prosperity  as  long  as  it 
abridges  the  right  of  voting  of  any  class  of  its  citizens. 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro, 

Chapter  XV. 


87 


EDUCATION. 

Its  Vast  Importance— Sums  Spent  Annually  by  Ohio,  Michigan, 
Indiana,  and  Illinois — Tables  of  Kon-Readers  and  Non- 
Writers  in  Eleven  Southern  States— Of  the  Press  South  and 
other  States — Of  Higher  Education — Many  Lawyers,  but  Few 
Mechanical,  Scientific,  or  Literary  Men  in  Southern  States. 

We  have  now  come  to  the  subject  of  education  which, 
from  its  great  importance,  we  must  treat  at  some  length. 

In  these  modern  days,  while  there  are  many  different 
ideas  as  to  methods  of  education,  there  are  no  two  opin- 
ions as  to  the  value  and  importance — nay,  as  to  the  neces- 
sity of  education  itself,  and  so  strongly  is  this  necessity  felt 
in  many  parts  of  the  Union,  for  instance,  in  the  central 
States  of  Ohio,  Michigan,  Indiana  and  Illinois,  they 
spend  vast  sums  annually  for  educational  purposes,  aver- 
aging, according  to  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Educa- 
tion, very  nearly  $30,000,000,  which  is  an  average  of  $10 
for  each  of  their  children  between  seven  and  nineteen 
years  of  age,  or  about  $20  for  each  child  actually  attend- 
ing school. 

As  education  is  the  great  lever  that  moves  the  world,  it 
is  of  vital  importance  to  the  prosperity  and  influence  of 
any  country  that  this  lever  should  be  in  good  condition ; 
for  now,  if  ever,  knowledge  is  power  and  wealth  too,  and 
education  is  the  parent  of  knowledge.  The  South  is  no 
exception  to  this  general  law;  she  holds  no  dispensation 
whereby  ignorance  may  do  the  work  of  knowledge,  and  if 
she  desires  prosperity  and  influence,  she,  too,  like  the  rest 
of  the  world,  must  encourage  education.  Let  us  now  see 
what  is  the  condition  of  education  within  her  bounds. 


88  T.he  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


We  will  first  take  the  children  of  ten  years  of  age  and 
upwards,  and  divide  them  into  readers  and  non-readers : 


STATES. 


Alabama  ... 
Arkansas  .  .  . 
Florida  .... 
Georgia  .... 
Louisiana .  .  .  , 
Mississippi  .  . 
North  Carolina 
South  Carolina 
Tennessee.  .  .  , 

Texas  

Virginia  


Can  Read. 


Total 


481.501 
378,647 
114,431 
597,157 
851,758 
438,081 
592,061 
345,676 
767,745 
807,973 
698,539 


5,573,569 


00  d 


Cannot  Read. 


370,279 
153,229 
70,219 
446,683 
297,312 
315,612 
367,890 
321,780 
294,385 
256,223 
360,495 


3,254,107 


The  proportion  in  the  four  Western  States,  already 
referred  to,  of  readers  to  non-readers  is  95|  to  4|i. 

The  following  shows  those  of  ten  years  and  upwards  of 
the  whites  who  cannot  write: 


Percentage  of 

Census 

of  1830. 

Writers  to 

STATES. 

Non- Writers. 

Can  Write. 

Cannot 

Write. 

Whites. 

340,955 

111,767 

295,363 

98,512 

79,374 

19,763 

435,043 

128,934 

Louisiana  

261,<)66 

58,951 

274,848 

53,448 

North  Carolina  

416,774 

192,032 

77%  22K 

212,931 

59,774 

574,517 

216,227 

685,015 

123,912 

515,892 

114,692 

Total  

4,092,678 

1,107,042 

Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


89 


These  two  tables  give  a  clear  official  view  of  the  condi- 
tion of  general  education  in  the  South  in  1880,  and  it  is 
not  believed  that  there  has  been  any  very  great  improve- 
ment since  then,  except  in  the  cities. 

We  will  now  give  two  tables,  showing  the  state  of  what 
may  be  called  public  intelligence  and  of  the  higher  walks 
of  cultivation.  First  in  importance  comes  the  press. 
The  follovvdng  table  is  from  census  of  1880 : 


si 

Circulation. 

STATES. 

q5 

-e  o 

All  (1 
Peri 

Dailies. 

All  others. 

South  

other  States  

128 
843 

1,612 
9,702 

196,533 
3,369,862 

1,504,424 
26,708,867 

Rowell's  Newspaper  Directory  for  1887  gives : 


STATES. 

Dailies. 

Weeklies. 

Monthlies. 

South  

156 

1,631 

152 

other  States.  . 

::::::::::::::::: 

1,155 

9,485 

1,-303 

Rowell  gives  no  estimate  of  aggregate  circulation,  but 
he  represents  only  one  Southern  paper  having  a  daily  cir- 
culation exceeding  15,000,  only  three  exceeding  10,000, 
only  four  exceeding  7,500,  only  three  exceeding  5,000,  and 
only  three  exceeding  4,000. 

As  showing  higher  education,  the  following  is  taken 
from  report  of  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education 
for  1884-5:  Number  of  university  and  college  students 
in  the  South,  6,486 ;  in  other  States,  27,891.  This  is  a  bet- 
ter showing  as  regards  numbers,  but  w^e  can  judge  better 
as  to  the  quality  of  instruction,  w^hen  we  remember  there 
is  only  one  Southern  university  of  national  reputation — 
namely,  the  University  of  Virginia,  w^hile  the  other  States 
have  Yale,  Harvard,  Princeton,  Cornell,  Johns  Hopkins, 
Stevens'  Institute  of  Technology,  and  others  that  attract 
students  from  all  parts  of  the  United  States. 


90 


The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


As  further  showing  the  condition  of  higher  cultivation 
in  the  South,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  though  we 
had  and  still  have  many  men  distinguished  in  law,  medi- 
cine and  politics,  we  have  had  and  still  have  very  few 
men  noted  in  mechanics,  science,  art,  literature,  invention. 

As  bearing  also  on  this  point  an  examination  of  John- 
son's Encyclopaedia,  an  American  work  of  standard 
authority,  shows  that  only  one  editor,  A.  H.  Stevens,  out 
of  thirty-one,  was  Southern,  and  only  thirty  out  of  730 
writers  on  special  subjects  were  Southern,  among  whom 
were  Beauregard,  Lamar,  Hampton,  Curry.  There  were 
thousands  of  other  contributors,  of  whom  the  South 
doubtless  supplied  some,  but  the  names  of  these  sub-wri- 
ters are  not  given.  It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  a  large 
proportion  of  contributors  would  be  Southern,  but  the  fact 
of  so  exceedingly  few  having  been  engaged  may  well 
prove  a  great  dearth  of  higher  education. 

Having  now  given  a  very  general  and  cursory,  but  not, 
it  is  believed,  an  unfair  or  inaccurate  survey  of  the  state 
of  education  in  the  South,-  let  us  now  look  at  the  subject 
more  in  detail,  so  that  we  may  accurately  perceive  the 
conditions  and  the  difficulties  surrounding  the  question, 
because  until  we  get  this  view  we  will  not  be  in  a  situa- 
tion to  take  the  essential  steps  to  disseminate  education 
among  all  the  people. 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro > 


91 


Chapter  XVI . 


EDUCATION  COXTINUED. 

Private  and  Voluntary,  or  Public  and  Compulsory,  Schools  only 
Methods  of  Combatting  Ignorance — South  Dependent  on 
Wretched  Public  Schools— Tables  of  School  Population  and 
Number  to  Square  Mile  in  Southern  States  and  in  Four 
Western  States — Xumber  of  Square  Miles  Required  for  Ave- 
rage School  of  Thirtj^ — Percentage  of  School  Attendance — 
Average  Pay  of  School-Teachers  and  Average  Day's  Attend" 
ance  in  South — With  Separate  Schools  Education  Impossible 
and  Prosperity  a  Delusion. 

If  education  is  not  a  prerequisite  of  progress  and  pros- 
perity, or  if  among  all  the  people  sixty-three  readers  to 
thirty-seven  non-readers,  or  if  among  the  whites  alone 
seventy-eight  writers  to  twenty-two  non-writers,  is  not  a 
bad  condition  of  education,  then  this  whole  question  of 
education  drops,  and  there  is  nothing  more  to  be  said; 
but  if  education  is  a  necessity  of  progress  and  prosperity, 
if  among  all  the  people  of  ten  years  and  upwards  six^y- 
three  readers  to  thirty-seven  non-readers,  and  among  the 
whites  seventy-eight  writers  to  twenty-two  non- writers, 
be  a  deplorable  state  of  affairs,  then  a  practical  and  press- 
ing problem  of  the  greatest  and  gravest  magnitude  con- 
fronts us,  and  the  question  is,  How  shall  we  meet  and  solve 
it?  There  are  only  two  ways — namely,  private  and  vol- 
untary, or  public  and  compulsory,  schools.  If  all  could 
afford  the  expense  of  private  schools,  so  that  every  neigh- 
borhood, however  sparsely  settled,  could  have  a  good 


92 


The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


school,  private  schools  would  undoubtedly  be  the  best 
means  of  education,  because  they  are  flexible  and  can  be 
easily  accommodated  to  local  and  personal  conditions"; 
but  the  poverty  of  the  South  utterly  precludes  all  possi- 
bility of  such  a  system,  and  therefore  we  are  necessarily 
thrown  back  upon  public  schools,  with  all  their  rigidity, 
where  children  are  stretched  figuratively  upon  procrus- 
tean  beds  and  cut  off  or  stretched  out  to  accommodate 
them  to  their  inflexible  system.  Public  schools  have  now 
taken  the  place  of  the  Pharisee's  Sunday,  men  being  sup- 
posed to  be  made  for  Sunday  and  not  Sunday  for  men, 
and  so  children  are  now  made  for  public  schools  and 
not  public  schools  for  children.  But  whatever  their 
faults,  we  are  confined  to  public  schools  and  must  accom- 
modate ourselves  to  them. 

The  conditions  found  in  the  South  are  poverty,  sparse- 
ness  of  population,  great  ignorance,  and  the  forces  to  meet 
and  overcome  these  conditions  are  indifferent  public 
schools.  But  such  schools,  which  must  necessarily  con- 
tinue indifferent,  will  never  answer,  and  our  only  hope  is 
good  public  schools;  and  the  question  of  how  to  get  good 
public  schools  is  the  one  we  have  to  solve.  In  default 
of  money,  there  is  only  one  way,  and  that  is  a  large 
clientage  of  pupils,  for  without  many  scholars  there  can- 
not be  sufficient  financial  basis  to  secure  good  teachers, 
and  without  good  teachers  good  public  schools  are  an 
absolute  impossibility.  Now  let  us  see  our  basis  for  this 
large  clientage.  We  will  take  the  census  of  1880  for  our 
guide,  and  we  will  include  all  children  from  seven  to 
nineteen  years  of  age,  which  gives  us  a  school  period  of 
thirteen  years.  We  find  by  experience  that  an  enroll- 
ment of  fifty  is  requisite  to  secure  average  attendance 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro.  93 


of  thirty.  We  therefore  calculate  on  the  basis  of  enroll- 
ment of  fifty. 


Children,  T  to  19. 

Area 

"WTiite, 
7  to  19. 

Black, 
7  to  19. 

School  of  30. 

STATEtj. 

Square 
Mile"^ 

Z6 
'^.'^ 

ii 

U 

&S 
m 

m 

^ 

197,507 

193.054 

52.250 

3.75 

3.69 

13 

33 

13.55 

Arkansas  

179,137 

64:413 

53:850 

3.33 

1.20 

15 

CO 

41.66 

41,759 

38;.«62 

58,580 

0.71 

0.66 

70 

42 

75 . 75 

Georgia  

240,596 

232,955 

59,475 

4.06 

4.05 

12 

31 

12.31 

Louisiana  

135,503 

141.932 

48.720 

2.80 

2.90 

17 

14 

17.24 

Mississippi  

144. 07S 

209.044 

46:810 

3.08 

4.45 

16 

23 

11.00 

Xorth  Carolina .  .  . 

252;  510 

171,604 

52;250 

4.83 

3.2s 

10 

35 

15.24 

South  Carolina .  .  . 

112.447 

189.96S 

30,570 

3.67 

6.21 

13 

62 

8.05 

Tennessee  

354;  84  4 

13i;02o 

42.050 

8.44 

3.12 

5 

93 

16.00 

Texas  

849,303 

129.725 

265:780 

1.31 

0.49 

3S 

16 

102.00 

256,991 

202,203 

42,450 

6.05 

4.76 

8 

26 

10.50 

As  a  companion  table,  the  following  is  given  : 


STATES. 

Children, 
7  to  19. 

Area 
Square 
MUes. 

Children. 
7  to  10. 

School 
of  50. 

02 

Ii 

920,304 

56,650 

16.25 

3.08 

609.826 

36.350 

16.77 

2.93 

Michigan.  . 

452.597 

58.915 

7.68 

6  51 

Ohio  .... 

930,8f^6 

41.050 

2-''.  67 

2.25 

When  we  look  at  the  first  of  these  two  tables  we  will 
hardly  be  surprised  at  our  illiteracy,  when  we  see  that 
the  two  most  thickly  populated  States,  namely,  Virginia 
and  Tennessee,  required  an  area  respectively  of  8.26  and 
5.93  square  miles  for  a  white  school  of  thirty  scholars, 
and  that  Georgia,  the  Empire  and  model  State,  required 
12.31  square  miles,  provided  every  white  child  and  youth 
between  seven  and  nineteen  actually  attended  school  at 
some  period  of  the  year. 

But  this  difficulty  of  clientage  is  much  increased,  when 
we  take  not  the  actual  number  of  children — for  very  many 
of  these  have  not  begun  school  by  seven,  and  very  many 


94 


The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dep&iident 


more  have  left  school  before  nineteen — -but  the  enrollment 
and  average  attendance.    Thus  : 


STATES. 

Children, 
7  to  19. 

United  States  Bureau  of 
Education. 
Report  of  1884-'5. 

Percentage   o  f 
Attendance  to 
Whole  Popula- 
tion. 

Enroll- 
ment. 

Average 
Attendance 

Alabama ...   

North  Carolina  

Virginia  

390,561 
473,551 
424,114 
459,194 

233,909 
291,505 
298,166 
303,343 

144,572 
195,035 
185,578 
176,409 

11.45 
12.65 
13.26 
11.66 

Applying  the  above  percentage,  which  is  actual  experi- 
ence, we  find  that  only  four  years  ago  it  required  the  fol- 
lowing square  miles  respectively  for  white  schools  of  thirty 
scholars:  20.55,17.44,13.71,12.40.  The  number  of  thirty 
scholars  is  selected,  as  already  stated,  for  any  less  number 
would  not  afford  sufficient  grading  of  pupils  or  compen- 
sation of  teachers  to  make  good  schools. 

Now,  here  is  a  physical  impediment  which  can  be  over- 
come only  by  a  large  increase  of  population,  and  what 
prospect  is  there  of  this  increase?  Very  little  indeed, for 
except  in  some  of  our  few  cities,  and  in  several  accessible 
mining  regions,  where  the  increase  is  noteworthy,  the 
agricultural  sections,  which  are  the  real  South,  are  not 
much  more  than  holding  their  own  in  numbers.  In 
order  to  have  the  school  basis  of  Indiana  and  Illinois,  the 
States  of  Alabama  and  Georgia  must  more  than  quadru- 
ple their  white  population,  North  Carolina  must  increase 
hers  three  and  a  half  times,  and  Virginia  must  increase 
hers  two  and  three-fourths  fold. 

The  other  Southern  States,  except  Tennessee,  are  not 
so  favorably  situated  as  the  four  already  cited. 

What  is  the  prospect  in  this,  or  the  next,  or  even  in  the 
third  generation,  of  this  increase,  or  of  anything  like  it? 

And  what,  in  tlie  meantime,  is  to  become  of  the  educa- 
tion of  the  peo|)le?  The  bulk  of  the  white  population  will 
necessarily  remain  uneducated,  and  many  must  continue 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


95 


illiterate,  and  the  States  must  inevitably  fall  behind  in 
the  race  of  prosperity  and  progress;  and  lacking  in  pros- 
perity, they  will  as  inevitably  fall  under  the  dominion  of 
the  other  States  of  the  Union. 

Tlierefore,  instead  of  increasing  greatly  in  population, 
we  may  esteem  ourselves  fortunate  if,  in  our  ignorant 
condition,  we  be  not  deserted  by  the  flower  of  our  youth, 
attracted  by  prosperity  elsew^here,  and  we  thus  be  unable 
to  hold  our  present  numbers ;  and  little  or  no  increase  of 
population  taking  place,  there  will  be  little  if  any  improve- 
ment in  our  public  schools. 

According  to  the  report  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of 
Education,  the  South  spent  in  one  year  $8,475,993.00  for 
education,  and  we  may  continue  for  years  to  spend  this  vast 
sum  annually,  but  it  will  be  almost  entirely  thrown  away  in 
the  country  at  large  until  we  have  a  large  enough  white  pop- 
ulation to  furnish  children  enough  for  schools,  large  and 
frequent  enough  and  kept  up  long  enough  to  attract  an 
ample  supply  of  competent  teachers.  Without  good  subal- 
tern officers  an  army  is  little  better  than  a  mob,  so  without 
good  teachers  schools  are  little  better  than  a  mockery. 

The  following  table  shows  the  wretched  implements  our 
public  school  teachers  must  necessarily  be,  for  they  do  not 
average  the  compensation  of  house-maids,  w^ho  are  likewise 
boarded,  and  shows  how  little  schooling  the  children  receive : 


STATES. 

Average  Annual 
Pay  of  Teach- 
ers.  Census  of 

].S,SO. 

Average  School 
Days.  United 
States  Com.  of 
Edacation, 
1884-'5. 

S  83  70 

82.04 

117  52 

Not  given. 
95. 

86  16 

100  25 

Not  given. 

217  79 

110. 

119  37 

78.05 

North  Carolina  

52  46 

62. 

96  20 

70. 

Tennessee  

106  88 

80. 

Texas   

105  54 

100. 

Virginia  

145  17 

118.4 

96  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


To  fight  the  battle  of  education  with  our  present  forces 
and  present  system  of  separate  scliools  seems  well-uigh 
hopeless.  But  what  shall  we  do?  Shall  we  go  on  in  our 
past  and  present  wasteful  and  inefficient  manner;  shall 
we  keep  on  and  spend  the  little  money  we  have  and  get 
small  benefit  from  it,  except  in  the  cities  and  larger  vil- 
lages, or  shall  we  look  around  for  reinforcements  in  order 
.  to  contend  successfully  with  ignorance?  ^  If  education  is 
an  essential  of  progress  and  prosperity,  we  must  do  it ; 
and  if  we  value  education  properly,  we  will  search  anx- 
iously for  these  reinforcements  ;  and  if  we  only  will  it  we 
shall  gain  our  end, for  the  old  adage  is  still  true,  ''Where 
there  is  a  will  there  is  a  way."  But  they  are  not  to  be 
procured  by  wishes  or  even  by  prayers,  but  only  by  action, 
and  by  action,  too,  that  will  clash  with  all  of  our  precon- 
ceived ideas,  that  will  be  distasteful  and  repugnant  to  our 
prejudices,  but  not  to  reason  and  justice.  But  if  we  are 
serious  in  our  desires  for  prosperity,  we  will  not  ht  them 
deter  us,  for  to  stumble  and  falter  at  things  that  iwe  dis- 
tasteful and  repugnant  is  at  once  to  put  a  stop  to  vM  pro- 
gress, physical,  moral  and  intellectual,  for  what  in  reality 
is  progress  but  the  overcoming  of  prejudice  and  hostility? 

The  rise  and  triumph  of  Christianity  itself  was  simply 
an  overcoming  of  the  violent  prejudices  and  repugnances 
of  the  civilized  world;  and,  in  truth,  all  reforms,  and  the 
more  beneficial  the  reform  the  greater  generally  are  the 
obstructions  to  be  overcome,  are  contests  against,  and 
finally  victories  over,  what  is  distasteful  and  repugnant. 
Volumes,  and  exceedingly  interesting  ones,  too,  could  be 
written  about  reforms  gained  in  spite  of  what  was  distaste- 
ful, and  of  reforms  yet  delayed,  but  still  to  come,  because 
of  distaste  and  repugnance,  active  and  violent  or  phleg- 
matic, but  deep-seated.  To  say, therefore, that  our  reinforce- 
ments are  distasteful  and  repugnant  is  really  to  say  nothing 
against  them,  and  is  no  reason  why  we,  if  wise,  should 
reject  them.    Our  interest  is  to  examine  these  reinforce- 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


97 


ments  and  see  if  they  will  be  efficient  aids  to  escape  from 
our  great  and  deplorable  ignorance,  and  if  found  to  be 
feasible  and  practical,  and  especially  if  found  to  be  essen- 
tial, we  should  embrace  and  set  them  in  motion  without 
delay.  Our  impulse  will  be  to  say:  impossible,  or  the 
thing  shall  never  be  done;  but  we  should  be  very  chary 
in  saying  anything  is  impossible,  or  that  such  a  thing 
shall  never  be,  in  view  of  what  has  taken  place  and  in 
view  of  what  we  have  agreed  to  in  the  past  quarter  cen- 
tury. In  that  time  we  have  seen  slaves  made  freed  men 
at  the  scratch  of  one  man's  pen;  by  a  simple  "Beit 
enacted"  we  have  seen  freedmen  made  citizens,  legisla- 
tors, jurors,  teachers  of  youth,  &c.,  &c.;  we  have  seen 
civil  and  political  society  completely  changed,  and  social 
life  profoundly  modified ;  in  a  word,  we  are  living  in  a 
new  world,  and  we  have  assented  to  all  these  fundamental 
changes  that  have  made  the  new  world. 

Now,  no  changes  in  the  future  can  ever  be  so  radical  as 
those  of  the  past,  and  therefore  we  should  never  again 
say  anything  is  impossible,  or  that  we  shall  never  permit 
it  until  after  we  have  given  the  subject  a  fair,  deliberate 
and  impartial  consideration.  And  so,  in  the  remedy  pro- 
posed to  educate  our  people,  we  should,  in  our  own  inter- 
est, hear  calmly  and  fairly  before  striking.  If  what  is 
proposed  is  impracticable,  condemn  it  and  let  it  perish ; 
but  if  it  is  necessary  and  feasible,  even  though  very  hard 
and  difficult,  we  may  be  sure  that  time  will  bring  the  end 
about  in  spite  of  any  opposition  we  may  make;  or  that  if 
we  persistently  refuse,  Southern  society  must  continue  to 
lie  not  only  in  a  bed  of  ignorance,  but  of  poverty,  too. 


5 


98  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


Chapter  XVII. 


EDUCATION  CONTINUED. 

Eemedy  Propased— The  Abandonment  of  Separate  Schools— 
The  Necessity  Thereof  and  Why— It  Doubles  Basis  for  Schools. 
Separate  Schools  a  Public  Proclamation  of  Caste— Inferiority 
of  Negroes— Why  They  Render  General  Education  Impossi- 
ble—Their Tendency  Radically  Demoralizing— Differences 
between  Men  Principally  Differences  of  Education. 

The  remedy  proposed  is  not  a  bread  pill  or  some  sooth- 
ing syrup,  but  is  a  radical  and  far-reaching  one,  and  is 
no  less  than  the  abandonment  of  the  principle  of  sepa- 
^  rate  schools,  which  principle  is  an  efficient  and  certain 
mode  of  dooming  to  perpetual  ignorance  both  whites  and 
blacks  in  thinly-settled  sections. 

This  remedy  will,  of  course,  as  already  said,  be  ex- 
tremely distasteful,  and  will  be  violently  opposed  unless 
its  necessity  and  its  advantages  can  be  demonstrated,  for 
until  this  is  done  the  whites  will  never  consent  to  co-educa- 
tion, but  will  prefer  to  remain  ignorant.  We  will,  then, 
endeavor  to  show  both  the  necessity  and  the  advantage. 

The  necessity  for  the  abandonment  of  separate  schools 
'  is  dual — physical  and  moral.  The  physical  necessity  is 
this:  With  our  sparse  population  separate  schools  cannot 
supply  a  clientage  numerous  enough  to  secure  good 
teachers,  upon  whom  the  efficiency  of  the  public  schools 
is  absolutely  dependent,  but  the  abandonment  of  sepa- 
rate schools  at  once  doubles  the  school  population  in  the 
South  at  large,  and  at  once  furnishes  a  basis  upon  which 
good  public  schools  can  be  built.    Thus,  South  Carolina, 


upon  the  Elevation  of  the  X^fjro. 


99 


instead  of  3.67  white  cliildren,  hias  9.88  of  all  children  to 
the  square  mile;  Crturgia,  instead  of  4.06,  has  8.11,  and 
Virginia,  instead  of  6.05,  has  10.81,  &c.,  ample  enough 
basis  for  good  public  schools. 

The  inpml  necessity  is  this:  Separate  schools  are  a 
public  proclamation  to  all  of  African  or  mixed  blood  that 
they  are  an  inferi^or  caste,  fundamentally  inferior  and 
totally  unfit  to  niingle  on  terms  of  equality  with  the 
superior  caste.  That  this  is  not  a  temporary  and  ephe- 
meral but  a  fundamental,  and  caste  inferiority,  is  proven 
by  the  fact  that  opposition  does  not  cease  when  the  tem- 
porary inferiority  ceases,  but  still  operates,  however  cul- 
tured and  refined  the  negro  may  be.  Hence  it  follows 
that  separate  schools  brand  the  stigma  of  degradation 
upon  one-half  of  the  population,  irrespective  of  character 
and  culture,  and  crushes  their  hope  and  self-respect,  with- 
out which  they  can  never  become  useful  and  valuable  citi- 
zens. Life  is  hard  enough  and  progress  is  slow  enough 
with  all  the  tonic  of  self-respect  and  with  all  the  stimulus 
of  hope,  but  deprived  thereof,  the  boldest  and  the  bravest 
among  the  white  cease  effort  and  relaj^se  into  despondency, 
despair  or  recklessness;  but  w^hen  we  make  our  imple-  «  ' 
ment  of  elevation,  namely  our  public  schools,  simply  a 
branding  iron  for  stamping  the  letter  '"'D,"  degraded,  upon 
the  foreheads  of  millions  of  black  fellovr-citizens,  we  delib- 
erately tear  up  by  the  roots  all  our  other  efforts  for  their 
amelioration.  We  can  imj^rove  the  beauty,  strength, 
speed  and  usefulness  of  animals  by  careful  feeding,  hous- 
ing and  training,  but  we  can  never  make  men  of  human 
beings  simply  by  attending,  however  carefully,  to  their 
physical  necessities — meat  and  drink  of  the  best  quality 
and  in  the  greatest  abundance  leave  them  animals  still. 
We  can  only  make  men  of  them  by  cultivating  and  stimu- 
lating their  higher  and  nobler  natures,  their  mental  and 
moral  [)arls,  and  this  can  never  l^e  done  while  the  princi- 
ple of  separate  schools  remains  in  full  force. 


100  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


%'  We  can  never  stamp  out  illiteracy  in  the  South  at  large 
as  long  as  this  principle  is  closely  followed,  for  it  requires 
that  if  there  are  not  whites  enough  to  form  a  separate 
school,  then  all  such  must  remain  ignorant,  and  if  not 
enough  blacks  to  form  a  separate  school,  then  all  the 
blacks  must  remain  ignorant;  and  as  these  conditions  are 
found  everywhere  in  the  South,  general  ignorance  of 
course  follows.  In  cities,  large  villages,  and  populous 
neighborhoods,  separate  schools  may  very  well,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  convenience,  just  as  in  the  case  of  segregation  of  the 
sects  where  co-equality  is  acknowledged,  be  kept  up,  pro- 
vided, however,  that  no  children  are  on  account  of  color 
excluded  from  convenient  schools  and  forced  to  attend 
inconvenient  schools ;  but  if  they  are,  then  separate  schools 
become  an  engine  of  degradation. 

If  we  could  arrange  matters,  we  would  be  somewhat 
like  the  preacher  of  a  New  England  fishing  village  in  his 
prayers  for  favorable  winds  for  the  fishing  smacks.  If  he 
prayed  for  fair  winds  for  those  going  fishing,  he  necessa- 
rily prayed  for  bad  wind  for  those  returning  from  fishing. 
So  what  does  he  do?  Not  wishing  of  course  to  ofi'end  any 
of  his  flock,  he  beseeches  the  Almighty  for  a  fresh  but  not 
violent  side  wind.  So  if  we  had  the  management  of,  or 
if  prayers  prevailed  in  the  school  realm,  there  should  be 
just  enough  of  each  color  in  every  neighborhood  to  form 
a  good  school,  and  the  homes  should  be  so  situated  that 
each  color  would  find  it  most  convenient  to  attend  its  own 
school,  and  then  everything  would  be  lovely,  because,  in 
colloquial  phrase,  "The  goose  would  then  honk  high." 

But,  alas,  we  have  not  the  management,  and  people 
will  locate  themselves  where  there  are  sure  to  be  either 
too  many  or  not  enough  of  each  color;  and,  under  the 
guidance  of  separate  schools,  thousands  and  hundreds  of 
thousands  must  remain  without  instruction,  and  what  are 
we  going  to  do  about  it?  Old  ideas  and  old  ways,  obliv- 
ious of  the  fact  that  the  whites  must  through  this  system 


lj;07i  ttie  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


101 


be  very  great,  if  not  the  greatest,  sufferers,  because  they 
have  most  to  lose,  and  looking  only  at  the  despised  blacks, 
oppose  every  change,  for  they  really  care  very  little  whe- 
ther the  blacks  ever  become  better  than  field  hands  in 
the  country  or  boot-blacks  and  menials  in  the  city. 

But  good  sense  and  justice  not  being  blinded  by  pre- 
jtidice  or  prescription,  and  being  keenly  alive  to  the  fact 
that  not  only  is  knowledge  the  parent  of  virtue,  but  that 
ignorance  is  the  mother  of  depravity;  and  knowing  that 
it  is  the  ignorant  generally  who  become  food  for  the  bro- 
tliels,  jails  and  penitentiaries,  who  are  the  main  support- 
ers and  upholders  of  saloons  and  bar-rooms,  and  who  fill 
most  of  the  drunkards'  graves,  and  who  are  the  depreda- 
tors upon  the  labors  of  the  industrious;  but  good  sense 
and  justice  say,  their  parents  pay  taxes  and  their  children 
are  therefore  entitled  to  instruction,  and  they  say  further 
that  even  if  their  parents  do  not  pay  taxes,  it  is  a  shame 
to  humanity  and  an  injury  to  society  to  let  any  of  these 
little  ones  grow  up  ignorant  and  untrained ;  and  after  the 
manner  of  One  who  was  the  incarnation  of  justice  and 
good  sense,  as  well  as  of  mercy,  they  say  to  all  the  little 
ones,  white  and  black  alike,  come  unto  us,  and  those 
whom  separate  schools  would  make  outcasts  they  take  in 
their  arms  and  carr}"  to  school,  where  they  will  be  taught 
to  know  right  from  wrong  and  trained  to  practice  what 
they  learn. 

Justice  and  good  sense  jDroclaim  that  education  is  sight 
to  tlie  blind,  hearing  to  the  deaf,  feet  to  the  lame,  and 
strength  to  the  weak;  that  it  is  the  one  pearl  of  great 
price,  and  that  as  the  husbandman  in  Scripture  sold  all 
that  he  had  in  order  to  procure  it,  so  every  people,  so  we 
of  tlie  South,  should  sacrifice  means,  prejtidices,  antipa- 
thies— everything,  if  necessary,  so  that  all  our  children 
may  be  educated ;  for  if  we  should  have  lost  all  and 
gained  education,  we  are  tlien  in  position  to  regain  more 
than  we  have  lost:  but  if  we  should  have  saved  all  and 


102         The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 

lose  education,  then,  like  the  fool  who  had  gained  the 
world  and  lost  his  soul,  we,  through  ignorance  and  illite- 
racy, will  finally  lose  all  that  we  were  fondly  imagining 
that  we  were  saving.  The  differences  between  man  and 
man  are  principally  the  difference  of  education.  Bis- 
marck, an  untutored  savage,  would  be  the  bold  and  cruel 
leader  of  some  bloodthirsty  horde ;  Bismarck  educated  is 
the  ruling  spirit  of  Europe's  greatest  empire,  and  all  the 
nations  of  the  old  world  hang  breathless  upon  his  slight- 
est political  utterance. 

Certain  things  cannot  coexist.  In  classic  times  it  was 
Rome  or  Carthage,  with  Patrick  Henry  it  w^as  liberty  or 
death,  and  the  late  war  it  was  slavery  or  freedom;  and  so 
now  justice  and  good  sense  proclaim  that  separate  schools 
and  general  education  cannot  coexist.  To  say,  w^hen 
other  portions  of  the  country  have  in  a  great  measure 
condemned  separate  schools,  that  we  cannot  rise  to  tlie 
occasion  when  the  prize  is  the  redemption  of  our  country 
from  the  disgrace  and  curse  of  ignorance,  is  to  belittle 
and  dishonor  ourselves. 


Upo7i  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


103 


Chapter  XVIII. 


EDUCATIOX  COXTIXUED. 

Fear  of  Demoralization— Mixed  Schools  do  not  Mean  Demoraliza- 
tion of  Whites  but  Elevation  of  Blacks — Influence  Descends. 
The  High  r  Demoralizes  the  Lower,  not  the  Dower  the 
Higher — Example  of  ISTurses— Of  Playmates — The  IMammy — 
Examples  of  Higher  Demoralizing  Lower. 

But  ydiile  thousands  are  sincerely  desirous  of  doing 
full  justice  to  the  negro,  they  yet  cling  to  separate  schools  • 
because  of  a  dread  of  denwalization,  y'hich  they  fancy 
is  inseparable  from  mixed  schools.  Because  they  some- 
times see  degraded  white  men  mix  with  negroes  they 
imagine  they  have  been  demoralized  by  the  association, 
though  the  fact  is  they  did  not  mingle  with  the  blacks 
until  they  had  become  demoralized,  and  they  therefore 
imagine  that  the  simple  mingling  of  the  two  colors  in 
the  same  school,  however  guarded  and  however  well  regu- 
lated the  public  schools  were,  would  also  cause  demor- 
alization. In  this  they  are  thoroughly  illogical,  for  besides 
forgetting  that  reputable  colored  people  will  not  mingle 
with  degraded  whites,  they  also  overlook  the  fact  that 
from  earliest  childhood  they  Lave  been  subjected  to  inti- 
mate negro  association,  and  yet  they  have  not  been 
degraded;  and  if  they  were  not  demoralized  by  the  unre- 
strained influences  of  negro  nurses  at  the  very  time  the 
mind  and  the  heart  are  most  susceptible  to  influence 
of  every  kind,  why  should  they  fear  demoralization  for 
tlieir  children  when  under  the  well-guarded  restraint  of 
well-managed  public  schools?    They  can  have  no  well- 


104         The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


grounded  apprehension,  and  such  fears  are  chimerical. 
Moreover,  they  should  bear  in  mind  that  influence, 
whether  demoralizing  or  elevating,  is  like  the  niin — it 
descends.  The  higher  ranks  of  society  elevate  or  demor- 
alize the  lower,  but  rarely  do  the  virtues  or  the  vices  of 
the  lower  afreet  the  higher  one  way  or  the  other;  and  in 
the  mingling  of  the  two  colors  in  the  public  schools  the 
result  would  necessarily  be  not  the  degradation  of  the 
higher  but  the  elevation  of  the  lower.  It  is  impossible  to 
conceive  of  well-bred  children  preferring,  to  any  extent, 
the  bad  habits  and  language  of  unkempt  and  untrained 
little  negroes.  Instead  of  being  attracted,  they  will  be 
repelled  by  every  manifestation  of  bad  ways,  bad  lan- 
guage, and  bad  thoughts,  just  as  the  virtues  of  Spartan 
children  were  invigorated  by  witnessing  the  vices  of 
helots.  Even  in  separate  schools,  both  private  and  pub- 
lic, children  do  not  form  many  intimate  acquaintances, 
and  in  mixed  schools  there  is  little  likelihood  of  white 
children  forming  any  intimacies  with  black  children.  It 
will  not  of  course  be  as  agreeable  to  attend  mixed  as  sep- 
^  arate  schools,  but  when  it  is  narrowed  down  to  almost  no 
good  schools  for  a  great  part  of  the  South,  or  good  mixed 
schools,  it  would  seem  to  be  the  height  of  folly  to  allow 
feeling  or  sentiment  to  rob  us  of  the  inestimable  blessings 
of  education.  Purists  such  as  tliese  ought  not  to  enter 
rail  cars  if  they  saw  negroes  therein,  or  they  should  g(  t 
out  as  soon  as  they  saw  one  enter,  and  should  walk  to 
their  destination  or  return  home,  and  after  they  get  home 
they  should  remain  there,  lest  they  be  demoralized  by 
even  the  sight  of  a  black  skin.  People  and  their  cliil- 
dren,  so  susceptible  to  contamination,  should  not  have 
negro  cooks  or  maids,  negro  butlers  or  coaclimen,  for  if 
education  in  well-regulated  public  schools  will  engender 
demoralization,  then  servants  which  come  into  close  daily 
contact  with  master  and  mistress,  with  young  Master  John 
and  young  Miss  Mary,  will  surely  bestrew  their  paths  with 
frightful  white  moral  wrecks. 


Lpon  the  Elevation  of  the  Xegro. 


105 


If  mere  association  in  well-regulated  public  schools, 
where  bad  children  will  be  closely  watched  or  expelled, 
will  cause  demoralization,  what  an  opportunity  the 
"mammy"  had  to  put  in  her  deadly  work.  Most  of  us  * 
above  thirty  yeai^s  of  age  had  our  mammy,  and  generally 
she  was  the  first  to  receive  us  from  the  doctor's  hands, 
and  was  the  first  to  proclaim,  with  heart  bursting  with 
pride,  the  arrival  of  the  fine  baby.  Up  to  the  age  of  ten 
we  saw  as  much,  perhaps  more,  of  the  mammy  than  of  the 
mother,  and  we  loved  her  quite  as  well.  The  mammy 
first  taught  us  to  lisp  and  to  walk,  played  with  us  and  told 
us  wonderful  stories,  taught  us  who  made  us  and  who 
redeemed  us,  dried  our  tears  and  soothed  our  bursting 
hearts,  and  saved  us  many  a  well-deserved  whipping; 
nursed  us  kindly  and  faithfully  in  sickness,  and  if  death, 
in  spite  of  all,  snatched  away  a  little  cherub,  she  mingled 
her  tears  without  reproof  with  those  of  the  mother.  The 
mother  might  grow  weary  and  faint,  but  the  faithful 
mammy  seemed  never  to  weary,  but  was  always  patiently 
and  lovingly  at  her  post,  and  when  her  summons  came  to 
go  up  higher  we  laid  her  tenderly  to  rest.  In  the  hands 
of  the  negro  mammy  we  were  as  clay  to  the  potter,  but 
did  she  demoralize  us?  Thousands  who  are  scattered  over 
the  land,  and  in  whose  memory  the  mammy  holds  a  tender 
and  an  honored  place,  have  but  one  response,  "  Xo." 

And  when  we  became  youths  and  played  with  negro 
boys,  went  fishing  and  hunting  with  them,  gathered  ber- 
ries and  nuts  together,  climbed  the  same  trees,  and  threw 
down  apples  and  cherries  to  the  girls  and  little  boys 
whose  legs  were  too  short  to  grasp  the  trees ;  and  when 
we  became  older,  young  men  and  maidens,  and  had 
colored  body-servants  and  colored  maids,  who  were  con- 
stantly at  our  elbow,  and  who  knew  all  our  love  affairs, 
&c.,  became  we  then  demoralized?  Xo;  and  why? 
For  the  simple  reason  that  we  were  higher,  and  the 
higher  are  rarely,  if  ever,  demoralized  by  the  lower.  Influ- 
ence descends;  and  if  we  mingle  in  the  same  schools  the 


106  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


whites  will  not  be  demoralized,  because  they  are  the 
higher,  the  nobler,  the  richer,  but  the  blacks  through  the 
influence  of  the  whites  will  be  elevated.  The  danger  of 
contamination  will  not  be  from  black  but  from  bad  white 
children,  for  the  latter  will  have  constant  and  easy  access 
to  all,  while  the  former  will  be  naturally  confined  to 
association  with  their  own  color.  For  centuries  the 
Southern  whites  have  been  intimately  associated  with 
the  blacks,  and  have  we  become  demoralized  ?  And  if 
not  we  can  have  no  well-grounded  fears  of  contamination 
from  well-regulated  public  schools. 

When  the  writer  hears  the  cry  of  demoralization,  born 
as  he  has  been  and  lived  as  he  has  in  Southern  society, 
and  knowing  intimately  its  dark  as  well  as  its  bright 
side,  he  can  only  smile  and  recall  the  old  fable  of  the 
lamb  muddying  the  wolf's  drinking  water.  -  The  morals 
of  the  blacks  are  bad,  and  they  are  doubtless  very  glad 
to  receive  the  impure  advances  of  the  whites,  but  as  a 
rule  they  are  not  the  tempters  but  the  tempted;  they  are 
passive,  and  if  they  are  not  sought  by  the  whites  they 
will  rarely  seek  the  latter.  History,  fiction,  the  drama, 
every-day  life,  all  abundantly  illustrate  the  demoralizing 
effects  of  the  higher  upon  the  lower  walks  of  societ3^ 
Books  furnish  thousands  of  instances,  as  we  read  in 
David  Copperfield  and  Adam  Bede,  of  the  higher  male 
destroying  the  virtue  of  the  humble  female,  and  although 
we  hear  sometimes  of  grooms  marrying  their  masters' 
daughters,  we  have  to  hunt  a  very  long  time  to  find  one 
instauce  of  the  lower  male  seducing  the  higher  female; 
and  so  it  is  in  the  South  in  the  intercourse  of  the  two 
colors.  The  virtue  of  the  w^hite  female  is  secured  by  the 
ease  wdth  which  the  higher  white  debauches  the  lower 
black.  Demoralization,  indeed !  If  the  prophet  Nathan 
were  now  alive,  and  were  to  be  as  plain-spoken  as  he  was 
in  David's  time,  few  Southern  men  would  dare,  in  his 
presence,  to  cry  demoralization,  lest  he  siiould  point  his 
finger  at  him  and  say,  Thou  art  the  man. 


upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Xegro. 


107 


Chapter  XIX. 


OTHER  IXJURIOUS  CONSEQUENCES  OF  SEPARATE  SCHOOLS  AND 
OTHER  ADVANTAGES  OF  MIXED  SCHOOLS. 

Separate  Schools  INIean  Oligarchy,  Caste,  and  not  Democracy — 
Inculcate  Ineciuality  at  Beginning  of  Instruction,  Cultivate 
Autocracy  and  Haughtiness  in  Whites  and  Abasement  and 
Servility  in  Blacks — Emancipation,  Xegro  Suffrage,  Xegroes 
on  Juries,  &c.,  &c. ,  jDroved  Chimeras  ;  so  will  ]Mixed  Schools. 
Mixed  Schools  will  Disseminate  Correct  Ideas  of  Liberty. 

If  we,  as  a  people,  are  to  be  democratic  and  not  oli- 
garchic: and  if,  as  individuals,  we  are  to  be  all  equal  and  ^ 
not  some  superiors  and  some  inferiors,  it  must  be  not 
through  means  of  separate  schools,  but  through  schools 
vrhose  doors  freely  open  to  all  within  the  school  district ; 
but  if  ve  are  not  to  be  democratic,  if  there  are  to  be  per- 
manent classes  or  castes  among  us,  some  of  whom  enjuy 
privileges  denied  to  others — in  other  words,  if  we  are  to 
change  our  whole  theory  of  government,  then  separate 
schools  based  on  color  or  caste  are  the  most  effective  means  ^ 
we  can  employ. 

For  as  already  said,  separate  schools  are  a  public  pro- 
clamation to  the  blacks  that  they  are  so  degraded  that  no 
improvement  of  mind,  morals,  manners  and  appearance 
will  ever  fit  them  for  admission  to  white  schools ;  that  a 
gulf  as  impassable  as  that  between  Dives  and  Lazarus 
separates  them  from  the  whites ;  impossible  of  being 
crossed  by  the  blacks  because  the  whites  forbid,  and 
impossible  of  being  crossed  by  the  whites  because  caste, 
the  most  cruel,  the  most  odious,  the  most  blind  of  all  the 


108         The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 

devices  of  man  to  secure  selfish  advantage,  forbids.  Sep- 
arate schools  poison  at  its  very  source  the  stream  whence 
spring  the  best  and  noblest  fruits  of  education,  because 
at  the  very  beginning  of  instruction  the  little  ones  are 
taught  two  dogmas — first,  that  white  children  are  and 
shall  forever  be  fundamentally  superior  to  black  children; 
and  second,  that  black  children  are  and  forever  shall  be 
fundamentally  inferior  to  white  children.  At  the  foun- 
tain of  education  the  doctrine  of  caste,  which  elsewhere  is 
being  successfully  combatted,  is  enshrined  in  fresh  vigor 
and  authority,  and  it  seizes  with  its  rigid,  icy  grasp  the 
impressible  minds  of  the  children,  and  taints  them,  and 
the  blind  superiority  thereby  inculcated  fosters  sentiments 
of  false  pride,  disregard  of  the  rights  of  others,  and  unfeel- 
ing haughtiness  to  all,  regardless  of  color,  whom  they 
deem  inferiors ;  and  the  inferiority  thereby  taught  the 
blacks  cultivates  feelings  of  abasement  and  of  servile  fear 
of  all  whom  they  consider  superior — sentiments  totally 
destructive  of  manliness,  courage  and  self-respect,  the 
noblest  jewels  in  the  character  of  man. 

Separate  schools  are  necessarily  injurious  to  both  col- 
ors.  To  the  black  they  are  a  deliberate  affront,  and  their 
tendency  is  to  keep  the  whole  negro  population  in  a 
degraded  condition ;  and  they  likewise  tend  to  deteriorate 
the  character  of  the  whites,  for  they  make  of  them  oli- 
garchs, priding  themselves  not  on  their  merits,  but  on 
their  status,  despising  all  below  them  and  contemning 
labor,  because  labor  is  performed  by  menials  and  infe- 
riors. 

But  mixed  schools,  which,  at  first  blush,  we  so  much 
dread,  are  not  half  so  shocking  or  so  bad  as  were  negro 
emancipation,  negro  voting,  negro  law-making,  negroes 
sitting  on  juries,  negroes  riding  in  rail  and  street  cars, 
our  lordly  selves  standing  the  meanwhile,  negroes  sleep- 
ing in  the  same  berths  on  Pullman  cars,  &c.,  (fee;  but 
where  is  our  dread  of  them?    Dissipated  by  experience. 


upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


109 


xA.nd  what  will  become  of  our  dreaa  of  mixed  schools?  • 
That,  too,  will  be  proved  equally  chimerical.  The  rear- 
ing of  our  children  will  have  been  very  defective,  and 
their  virtues  will  be  very  feeble  and  sickly,  if  tliey  will 
be  demoralized  by  the  negro  children;  and  if  they  should 
be,  it  would  only  prove  that  white  parents  had  been 
extremely  negligent  in  raising  their  offspring ;  but  they 
will  not  be  demoralized.  On  the  other  hand,  however, 
their  fine  appearance,  their  good  breeding,  and  their  vir- 
tuous ways  will  be  constant  bright  examples  which  the 
black  children  will  be  continually  imitating,  and  instead 
of  bad  manners,  bad  morals,  and  bad  language  spread- 
mg  among  our  children,  good  language,  good  morals  and 
good  manners  will  spread  among  the  black  children. 
Entirely  separated  as  the  two  races  now  are  during  edu- 
cation,  the  black  children,  not  having  the  high  white 
model  constantly  before  their  eyes,  generally  consider  it  a 
small  disgrace  to  be  ragged  and  dirty,  to  be  vulgar  and 
profane,  to  lie  and  to  steal ;  and  only  after  they  come  in 
contact  with  their  betters  during  school  hours  can  we 
expect  very  material  improvetnent;  but  when  this  is  done 
we  may  confidently  look  for  a  vast  improvement  in  their 
dress,  speech,  habits  and  ways. 

Another  and  incalculable  advantage  of  mixed  schools 
will  be  that  the  whites  will  be  taught  the  valuable  lesson  " 
needed  to  be  learned  by  every  citizen  of  a  free  country,  that 
the  difference  between  man  and  man  is  not  color,  but 
character  and  conduct — worth  makes  the  man ;  want  of 
it,  the  fellow,  saith  the  poet— and  when  this  lesson  is 
thoroughly  learned,  then  will  be  disarmed  that  baleful 
pride  that  leads  them  to  regard  themselves  as  superior 
simply  by  virttie  of  a  lighter  skin,  and  which  teaches  them 
that  it  is  needless  to  attempt  excellence  by  the  acquisition 
of  virtue  and  knowledge;  for  why  labor  and  strive  to 
excel  when  they  already  excel  without  toilsome  effort? 
When  children  are  taught,  as  separate  schools  practically 


110         The  Prosperity  of  tlie  South  l)ependent 

'  do,  that  superiority  consists  in  a  wliite  skin,  they  will 
naturally  be  satisfied  with  that  kind  of  superiority,  and 
they  will  not  willingly  undergo  the  tedious,  painful  and 
patient  ordeal  requisite  to  prepare  them  for  superiority 
in  science,  art,  literature — in  all  the  vast  range  of  attain- 
ments which  make  us  to  differ  from  our  savage  and  bar- 
barous ancestors. 

One  reason,  most  likely,  why  the  South  has  always 
shown,  and  still  shows,  so  little  intellectual  development, 
apart  from  law  and  politics,  is  because  the  whites  have 
been  possessed  of  the  idea  that  the  height  of  su|)eriority 
is  a  white  skin,  and  that  they  have  been  content  with 
that  kind  of  eminence.  Mixed  schools  will,  in  time, 
emancipate  us  from  this  fallacy;  but  until  they  do,  or 
are  in  a  fair  way  of  doing  so,  it  will  be  vain  to  look  for 
much  indigenous  intellectual  vitality  in'^he  South,  and 
most  of  what  may  develop  will  be  compelled  to  seek,  as 
in  the  past,  its  encouragement  in  communities  where 
ideas  of  human  equality  have  fair  play,  and  where  they 
are  not  throttled  by  caste.  There  are  many  Southern 
men  of  capacity  and  influence  in  the  North  and  West, 
either  attracted  or  forced  there  because  they  had  no  field 
or  no  intellectual  liberty  in  their  native  land.  It  is  not 
that  Southern  intellect  is  any  way  inferior  to  intellect 
anywhere  else,  only  in  the  South  its  exercise  and  devel- 
opment are  cribbed,  cabined  and  confined  by  inexorable 
caste. 


rpoii  the  Elevation  of  tJ/e  Negro. 


Ill 


Chapter  XX. 


THE  COLOR  LINE. 

Dangers  of  this  Line — Wlio  Draws  It,  Wliites  or  Blacks? — 
Wliites  Opposed  to  every  Eight  Gained  by  Blacks,  and  Refuse 
them  All  OfSce — Blacks  when  in  Control  Confer  Offices  on 
Whites — Why  Blacks  Vote  for  Republicans  and  Against 
Democrats. 

Lines  of  demarkation  in  the  social  body,  if  attended 
with  enmity,  are  alvv^ays  injuriuus,  because  then  the  efforts 
of  tlie  people,  instead  of  being  directed  to  the  general 
good,  are  turned  against  each  other. 

The  theological  line,  now  happily  almost  extinct,  has 
in  its  day  wrought  incalculable  evil,  irretrievably  itijuring 
some  countries,  which  still  seem  to  lag  superfluous  upon 
the  stage  of  nations,  and  has  absolutely  destroyed  great 
etnpires  once  happy,  rich  pmd  prosperous,  but  now 
deserted  and  desolate  wildernesses. 

The  race  and  other  lines  have  also  in  their  day 
wrought  untold  havoc,  atid  in  recent  days  atid  smaller 
spheres  the  Know-Nothing  litie,  the  Knights  of  Labor 
line,  the  Sectional  line,  and  many  other  lines,  have  joined 
forces  in  workitig  injtiry,  enormous  iti  the  aggregate,  to 
the  weltare  and  happiness  of  men. 

Another  line,  sharply  dividing  the  social  structure,  has 
of  recent  years  become  painfully  prominent,  and  is  now 
grimly  confronting  us,  atid  that  line  is — 

THE  COLOR.  LINE, 

.    a  litie  certain  to  be  most  jiernicious  to  otir  prosperity,  if  it 
cannot,  like  the  religious  line,  be  obliterated. 


112  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


This  line  is  at  present  deep,  black  and  broad,  and 
"  almost  as  impassable  as  that  separating  Lazarus  and  Dives ; 
and  if  nothing  can  be  done  to  remove  it,  then  Ichabod, 
like  a  royal  cipher,  must  be  stamped  on  most  things 
Southern,  for  this  line,  as  long  as  its  dark  shadow  menaces 
us,  means  perpetual  discord  and  strife  for  all,  or  worse 
slavery  for  the  blacks  than  they  have  ever  yet  known,  in 
either  of  wdiich  event  our  prosperity  is  severed  at  its  roots. 

This  line,  in  few  words,  is  the  division  of  the  whites  and 
the  blacks  of  the  South  into  two  hostile  camps,  working 
in  opposite  directions,  and  seeking  opposite  ends — the 
whites  damning  the  blacks  and  their  allies,  and  the  blacks 
presenting  a  solid  front  of  opposition  against  the  whites. 
^  That  this  state  of  affairs  is  not  healthy  or  natural,  is  appa- 
rent to  all,  but  the  fact  that  it  undeniably  exists,  proves 
that  there  must  be  some  deep-seated  causes  in  operation 
to  produce  such  an  effect,  and  it  behooves  us  to  inquire 
diligently  and  candidly  wliat  these  causes  are ;  and  if  of 
our  making,  to  do  our  part  for  their  removal,  or  if  of  others' 
making,  to  seek  to  produce  amendment  in  them.  But 
truth,  and  not  party,  must  be  our  object. 

It  is  a  common  impression  among  the  whites  that  this 
color  line  is  drawn  solely  by  the  blacks,  and  apparently 
this  is  so,  but  before  deciding,  it  will  be  well  to  examine 
the  facts  and  judge  accordingly. 

Naturally,  there  are  many  antagonisms  in  the  problem. 


and  many  others  unnecessary  to  mention,  and  these  of 
themselves  are  sufficient  to  create  broad  and  deep  lines  of 
demarkation,  which  would  require  years  of  patient  wisdom 
for  their  eradication. 


Thus: 


Former  Masters, 

White, 

Beauty , 

"Wealth, 

Knowledge, 

Intelligence, 

Refinement, 


Former  Slaves, 
Black, 


Ugliness, 
Indigence, 
Ignorance, 
Stupidity, 


Degradation, 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


113 


These  are  natural  and  mutual  antagonisms  for  which 
we  are  not  responsible,  but  there  are  other  antagonisms 
which  are  strictly  artificial,  and  are  of  our  own  making, 
and  for  which  somebody  is  responsible. 

Thus  we  (the  Southern  whites)  opposed  with  all  our 
might — 

Negro  emancipation, 

Negro  civil  rights, 

Negro  ballot, 

Negro  office-holding, 

Negro  jurymen, 
— and  the  negroes  obtained  all  these  cardinal  and  essen- 
tial rights  in  spite  of  our  most  determined  and  bitter 
opposition. 

In  Virginia,  we  enacted  degrading  legislation,  aimed 
solely  at  the  negroes,  namely,  the 

Whipping-post,  and 
Chain-gang, 

the  repeal  of  which  was  against  our  wishes.  We  also 
required  a  poll-tax  prerequisite  to  voting,  and  we  repealed 
that  law  solely  because  it  was  found  to  keep  more  whites 
than  blacks  from  the  polls. 

And  we  still  maintain  in  North  Carolina  a  county  gov- 
ernment law,  expressly  designed  and  administered  so  that 
negroes  are  totally  deprived  of  the  benefit  of  their  county 
majorities.  And  we  still  maintain  in  South  Carolina  a 
system  of  electoral  machinery,  designed  especially  to 
deprive  tlie  negroes  of  their  political  voice,  and  so  worked 
that  the  end  is  efi'ectually  accomplished. 

AVe  also  proclaim,  both  by  words  and  acts,  that  negroes 
shall  not  hold  office  of  any  kind,  however  small — our  lead- 
ing paper  of  Virginia,  the  Richmond  Disjmtch,  expressing 
the  idea  by  saying,  that  as  long  as  a  white  man  capable 
of  holding  an  oflice  can  be  found  that  no  negro,  however 
worthy  and  capable,  shall  be  appointed — that  is  to  say,  of 
the  seven  or  more  millions  of  negroes,  of  seven  millions  of 


114         The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 

citizens,  that  not  one  oftliem,  whatever  his  merits,  shall  hold 
the  smallest  office  in  the  land  of  his  nativity,  in  the  home 
of  his  birth.  Unclean,  unclean  is  the  sentence,  and 
unclean  shall  they  ever  be,  if  we  can  23revent;  our  sole 
terms  to  the  negro  being  perpetual  inferiority  and  degra- 
dation, and  an  acquiescence  by  the  negroes  in  this 
degraded  status. 

But  we  will  not  call  this  drawing  the  color  line,  for  the 
negroes  are  the  ones  who  do  this. 

But,  then,  let  us  see  how  the  negroes  acted  in  the  days 
of  their  supremacy,  and  how  they  act  now.  Even  in 
reconstruction  times,  when  everything  favored  negro 
,  ^  supremacy,  the  negroes  by  no  means  confined  offices  and 
official  favors  to  their  own  color,  but  generally  entrusted 
them  to  the  whites.  And  at  present,  how  do  they  act 
where  they  have  control?  Speaking  for  Virginia,  no  one 
questions  that  the  negroes  enjoy  a  free  vote  and  a  fair 
count,  and  that  they  are  the  strength  of  the  Republican 
party.  Now,  for  four  years,  beginning  with  1878,  the 
Republican  party  had  absolute  control  of  the  State,  but 
during  that  period,  was  not  every  office,  from  senator  to 
county  judges,  and  even  to  clerks  in  the  State  capitol, 
given  to  the  whites,  and  did  not  they  elect  white  con- 
gressmen where  their  majority  was  unquestioned,  and  did 
they  not  also,  as  a  rule,  send  white  men  to  the  Legisla- 
ture from  counties  they  controlled?  And  now  that 
Republican  supremacy  has  disappeared  in  the  State,  how 
do  the  negroes  act  in  the  so-called  black  counties?  Do 
they  say  to  the  whites,  as  the  whites  say  to  them,  "No 
whites  need  apply?"  No;  on  the  contrary,  they  give  the 
whites  about  every  sheriff,  every  treasurer,  every  commis- 
sioner of  the  revenue,  every  county  and  every  circuit 
court  clerk,  and  they  content  themselves  with  being  jus- 
tices of  the  peace,  janitors,  and  such  like.  Whatever  their 
,  other  defects,  the  negroes,  as  a  rule,  have  sense  enough  to 
select  for  office-holders  the  best  whites  they  can  find  in 


Upon  the  Elevation  oj  trie  Negro. 


115 


tlieir  ovv'ii  party,  and  in  default  of  them,  tliey  select  the 
best  Democrats  attainable. 

But,  we  say,  they  cannot  fill  tlie  offices  because  of 
incompetency,  or,  if  capable,  from  inability  to  give  requi- 
site security.  This  is  true  in  great  measure,  but  still  they 
could,  as  so  many  white  politicians  seek  continually  to  do, 
wreck  if  they  could  not  rule,  and  they  might  say,  as  we 
do  with  regard  to  their  holding  oflice,  rather  than  that 
the  wliites  shall  hold  the  offices,  we  will  let  things  go  to 
the  devil ;  but  no,  they  do  not  draw  the  color  line,  but 
freely  bestow  the  offices  upon  the  whites.  From  this 
example  of  the  action  of  the  negroes  in  Virginia,  we 
should  dismiss  as  unmanly  and  unwarrantable  fears  that 
ruin  and  disaster  follow  in  the  train  of  the  free,  untram- 
meled  suffrage  of  the  blacks.  If  a  free  ballot  and  a  fair  , 
count  mean  negro  rule,  then  we  have  negro  rule  in  all  of 
Tidewater  Virginia.  Now,  who  draws  the  color  line, 
whites  or  blacks?    Each  man  shall  answer  for  himself. 

We  frec|uently  hear  the  expression,  "Oh,  that  the  color 
line  could  be  broken,  and  that  the  negroes  would  divide 
their  votes  between  the  Democratic  and  Republican  par- 
ties ;"  and  when  we  say  so,  we  fondly  imagine  that  the 
negroes  are  the  only  sinners,  and  we  never  for  a  moment 
suspect  that  we  may  be  the  sole  impediment  to  this  much 
desired  division.  It  is  greatly  to  be  wished  that  this  color 
line  could  be  broken,  for  as  long  as  it  remains  intact  it  is 
a  great  injury  to  our  welfare  and  a  great  menace  to  our 
peace  and  prosperity;  and  as  long  as  it  lasts,  statesman- 
ship is  absolutely  impossible,  and  we  Vsull  be  perpetually 
consulting  expediency,  availability,  and  everything  else 
but  right  and  reason. 

Now,  as  long  as  we  maintain  our  present  attitude,  let 
us  see  what  is  tlie  prospect  of  dividing  the  negro  vote; 
or  why  should  they  vote  f  :r  the  Democrats,  and  why 
should  they  not  vote  for  the  Republicans.  In  tlie  first 
place,  who  gave  them  freedom,  the  ballot,  civil  rights, 


116         The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


,  &c.?  The  Eepublicans.  Who  opposed  all  these  things  ? 
/  We,  the  whites,  who  stand  for  the  Democrats.  Who  raised 
.  theni  from  slaves,  with  their  lives  belonging  toot}iers,tofull- 
fi edged  citizens  of  the  greatest  country  on  eartli  ?  The  Re- 
publicans; and  who  opposed  this  elevation?  We,  the  whites. 

And  secondly,  who  extends  them  a  helping  hand  polit- 
ically, who  offers  them  encouragement  politically,  and  who 
promises  to  perfect  and  render  practicable  all  the  rights 
and  privileges  they  now  theoretically  enjoy  ?  The  Eepub- 
licans. And  who  says  to  them,  ''You  negroes  are  not 
only  now  a  degraded  and  inferior  race,  but  you.  are  also 
incapable  of  material  elevation ;  therefore,  you  must  be  con- 
tent to  occupy  permanently  and  eternally  an  inferior  and 
degraded  condition — you  must  be  satisfied  to  be  our  menial 
servants,  to  be  our  hewers  of  wood  and  our  drawers  of  wa- 
ter— this  is  the  best  we  will  do  for  you  ?  "    We,  the  whites. 

Now,  with  these  facts  before  us,  how  can  we  expect  the 
negroes  to  be  anything  but  enemies  to  the  Democrats  and 
friends  to  the  Eepublicans?  We  cannot;  and  change  is 
impossible  as  long  as  waters  seek  the  sea  or  the  skies 
water  the  earth.  And,  pray,  who  is  to  blame  for  this  omi- 
nous and  dangerous  state  of  affairs  ?    We  or  the  negroes  ? 

Again:  As  we  are  kind  to  the  negroes  individually, 
and  as  we  do  them  many  a  service,  when  we  ask  or 
expect  them  to  vote  with  us  we  are  greatly  surprised, 
and  accuse  them  of  ingratitude  if,  as  they  generally  do, 
they  decline.^*'  But  we  forget  that  most  of  our  kindness  to 
the  negroes  proceeds  from  the  standpoint  of  condescen- 
sion, and  of  assumed  caste  superiority,  and  we  expect  it 
to  be  received  with  humility  and  from  a  feeling  of 
acknowledged  caste  inferiority ;  and  if  not  so  received  by 
the  negroes,  they  are  thought  impudent  and  impertinent, 
and  the  fountain  of  our  kindness  soon  dries  up.  iSo  when 
we  ask  the  ne^ro  to  vote  with  us  he  says  to  himself,  "  Yes, 
Mr.  A.  is  a  mighty  goovd  man,  and  he  has  done  me  a  lieap 
of  kindness,  but  Mr.  A.  belongs  to  white  man's  party,  and 


Vpon  ilie  Elevation  of  the  Xegro. 


117 


he's  always  gwiue  with  his  party,  which  is  always  dead 
against  nigger.  Xo,  can't  vote  with  him;  mtist  stick  to  my 
friends."  It  is  as  natural  for  the  negro  to  vote  against  ns  as 
it  is  for  us  to  vote  against  carpet-baggers  and  Southdiaters. 

Again:  AVe  think  it  very  heinous  for  negroes  to  perse- 
cute negroes  for  voting  with  us.  Why  should  we?  See 
v.diat  we  do  when  Southern  Democrats  turn  Republicans. 
We  do  not,  at  least  in  Virginia,  persecute  them  physically, 
but  at  the  very  rumor  of  one  doing  so,  we  look  askance  at 
him,  and  turn  the  cold  shoulder  to  him;  and  wdien  the 
rum  jr  becomes  confirmed,  sociability  ceases,  friendship 
cools,  and  he  unmistakably  loses  social  caste. 

Xow,  these  changes  take  place  towards  people  vdiose 
party  does  not  threaten  us  with  perpetual  inferiority  and 
(.k-graiiation.  We  cannot  brook  any  turning  to  the  Eepub- 
licau.-.  and  yet  we  think  it  monstrous  when  negroes  ostra- 
cise their  own  color,  and  even  visit  them  with  pains  and 
penalties  for  joining  those  whose  watchword  for  the  seven 
millions  of  negroes  is  eternal  degradation  and  perpetual 
inferiority.    Strange,  passing  strange  I 

To  break  this  dark  and  ominous  color  line  rests  with  .  ^ 
us,  but  we  can  only  obliterate  it  by  treating  the  negroes 
with  equality  and  impartiality,  and  by  according  them 
cheerfully  all  the  rights  that  we  ourselves  enjoy;  and, 
unless  we  do  so,  the  day  is  not  far  remote  wdien  we  sluiU 
find  that  the  sceptre  has  departed  from  our  hands  never 
to  return  until  a  new  and  wdser  generation  shall  have 
come  upon  the  stage. 

Oligarchy,  caste,  vassalage,  are  the  regnant  spirit  in 
the  greater  portion  of  the  South,  and  no  country  can 
prosper  under  their  weight.  To  prospei',  their  galling 
chains  must  be  sundered  ;  and  if  ever  they  are  broken,  as 
they  surely  will  be,  mixed  schools,  by  disseminating  cor- 
rect ideas  of  personal  liberty  and  equality,  will  bear  an 
/honorable  part.  Until  the  negro  sees  and  feels  that  he  can  of 
right  enter  the  school  attended  by  his  white  neighbor,  the 
brand  of  degradation  must  eat  into  and  consume  his  soul. 


118         The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


Chapter  XXI. 


THE  DANGERS  THREATENED  BY  THE  PRESENT  CONDITION  OF 
THE  NEGRO  DANGERS  FROM  WITHIN. 

Enmity  and  Bitterness  of  Blacks  to  Whites ;  Causes  Thereof — 
Whites  Opposed  every  Right  Gained  by  Negroes — {Special 
Legislation  against  Blacks — Whites  Deliberately  Increasing 
these  Feelings — How? — By  Seeking  to  Educate  the  Blaclis  to 
be  Content  with  an  Inferior  Status— Should  be  Educated  to 
the  Utmost  or  every  Negro  School  should  be  Closed — Three 
Alternatives — Give  the  Blacks  an  Inch  and  they  will  take  an 
Ell — No— Why  Beconstruction  Days  Impossible — What  has 
Occurred  in  Virginia. 

Although  the  South  presents  a  quiet  and  peaceful 
aspect,  we  have  no  assurance  that  this  condition  of  the 
undisputed  supremacy  of  the  whites,  and  the  undisputed 
inferiority  and  degradation  of  the  hlacks,  will  continue 
indefinitely,  because  this  very  state  of  affairs  which  seems 
so  satisfactory  to  our  short-sighted  selfishness  has  pro- 
duced, and  is  daily  producing,  in  the  hearts  of  six  mil- 
lions of  fellow-citizens  a  vast  mass  of  smouldering  enmity 
and  bitterness,  only  awaiting  a  favorable  opportunity  to 
display  itself.  We  have  raised  up  an  enemy,  silent  and 
sullen,  at  our  very  doors,  who,  though  lie  will  never  con- 
quer, stands  ever  ready  to  vex  and  harass,  and  to  league 
with  those  who,  for  any  cause,  seek  to  upturn  the  present 
order  of  affairs. 

Inferior  as  the  negroes  undeniably  are,  they  have  sense 
enough  to  see  that  the  whites,  as  a  caste,  are  their  constant 
and  inveterate  foes,  not  that  individually  they  are  harsh 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


119 


and  cruel,  but  tliey  know  that  this  kindness  springs  ^ 
mainly  from  the  same  benevolence  that  prompts  consider-  . 
ation  for  their  horses  and  cattle,  for  their  cats  and  dogs. 
They  know  that  the  whites  will  not  maltreat  them,  pro- 
vidi'd  they  throw  up  their  hands  and  quietly  submit  to 
their  arbitrary  will,  but  they  also  know  that  if  they  do 
not,  they  go  to  the  wall,  irrespective  of  right  or  wrong. 
Thoy  remember  that  the  whites  fought  a  long  and  bloody 
war,  not  desisting  until  absolutely  exhausted,  or  until 
they  literally  had  reached  the  last  ditch,  to  keep  them  in 
servitude;  that  they  organized  Ivu-Klux  to  render  their 
freedom  nugatory ;  that  they  violently  opposed  the  Federal 
amendment  granting  suffrage;  that  civil  rights  were  con- 
ferred in  spite  of  all  their  efforts,  and  that  generally  they 
have  o[) posed  everything  tending  to  their  elevation.  They 
know,  aiso,  that  when  this  opposition  is  c[uiescent,  it  is 
only  dormant,  not  dead,  and  that  it  springs  into  full  vigor 
at  the  slightest  alarm,  for  did  not  the  appointment  by 
Governor  Cameron,  of  Virginia,  of  a  few  negro  school 
trustees,  suffice  to  hurl  from  power  at  the  first  subsequent 
election  the  Eepublican  party,  which  then  controlled 
every  branch  of  the  State  government? 

Tliey  also  know  that  this  opposition  of  the  whites  is 
still  in  full  vigor,  depriving  them  of  some  of  their  most 
valuable  rights;  for  is  there  not  now  in  full  operation  in 
Xortli  Carolina  what  is  known  as  the  County  Govern-  , 
ment  Law,  whereby,  for  the  purpose  of  depriving  the 
negroes  of  the  management  of  local  affairs  in  counties 
where  they  are  in  tlie  majority,  the  people  of  all  the  coun- 
ties are  debarred  the  right  of  electing  their  most  impor- 
tant county  ofiicers  ?  And  do  they  not  also  know  that 
the  whites  of  the  Palmetto  State,  for  the  same  purpose  of 
depriving  the  negroes  of  their  electoral  franchise,  have 
instituted  complicated  elective  machinery,  whereby  a 
number  of  ballot-boxes,  seven,  it  is  thought,  must  be  < 
opened  at  each  and  every  precinct,  and  if  a  ballot  is  put 


120  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


in  the  wrong  box  it  is  lost,  thus  hindering  and  bewilder- 
ing, and  practically  disfranchising  thousands  of  voters? 
Imagine  seven  ballot-boxes  being  necessary  to  secure  a 
fair  election  in  South  Carolina,  when  only  one  is  needful 
in  Virginia,  and  everywhere  else.  They  know,  too,  that 
the  whites  jealously  exclude  them  from  all  offices, 
however  small,  unless  it  be  to  clean  spittoons,  and  to  do 
other  such  menial  and  degrading  w^ork.  Now,  these  and 
many  other  things,  among  them  the  whipping-post, 
chain-gang,  and  prepayment  of  poll-tax  before  voting,  all 
now  happily  repealed,  convince  the  negroes  that  the 
whites,  as  a  caste,  are  hostile  to  everything  tending  to 
their  free,  equal  and  independent  citizenship;  and  so 
believing,  can  we  be  surprised  at  their  persistent  and 
even  blind  opposition  to  everything  advocated  by  the 
ruling  caste,  or  that  rancor  and  bitterness  necessarily 
smoulder  in  their  bosoms?  If  they  listened  to  the  whites, 
it  w^ould  be  a  most  wonderful  instance  of  unnatural  ism. 
Hence  the  wdiites,  instead  of  having  six  millions  of  friends 
and  co-workers  in  prosperity,  as  they  should  have  if  they 
showed  only  a  willingness  to  elevate  the  negro,  have  that 
number  of  secret  foes  in  their  midst. 

But  here  we  are  confronted  by  a  singular  fact.  Instead 
of  seeking  to  diminish  and  finally  eradicate  this  enmity, 
we  are  taking  deliberate  measures  to  increase  it.  Indeed  ! 
How  ?  Simply  by  seeking  to  educate  the  negroes,  but 
not  to  educate  them  to  the  full  measure  of  manhood  and 
citizenship,  but  to  educate  them  to  be  still  inferiors,  to  be 
still  subordinate  to  ourselves,  and  to  be  content  to  occupy 
the  lower  stratum  while  we  occupy  the  upper.  Education 
is  not  only  to  fill  the  mind  w^ith  knowledge,  but  to  make 
men  and  citizens  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  word ;  but 
our  idea  of  the  education  of  the  negro  is  to  load  him 
with  knowledge,  but  to  abridge  the  process  of  making 
him  the  best  attainable  man  and  citizen,  and  to  arrest  his 
mental  growth  at  a  point  permanently  inferior  to  our  own, 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


121 


and,  after  having  done  this,  to  expect  tlie  negro  to  be 
satisfied.  Although  this  is  an  impossibility,  because  a 
flat  contradiction,  we  do  not  see  it,  but  we  go  on  and  furnish 
not  only  common  and  high  schools,  but  also  normal 
schools  and  colleges.  We  should  stop  at  once  all  educa- 
tion of  the  negro,  shut  up  his  every  public  school,  and 
forbid  all  private  negro  schools,  unless  we  are  prepared  to 
carry  his  education  to  its  highest  attainable  point,  and 
are  willing  to  accept  all  its  consequences — for  every 
increase  of  education  only  increases  and  intensifies  his 
present  discontent  and  enmity.  How?  Because  the 
more  uneducated  we  keep  him  the  less  he  perceives  his 
wretched  and  degraded  lot ;  therefore,  the  less  dissatis- 
fied with  it,  and  the  less  enmity  to  his  superiors.  But 
educate  or  elevate  him  ten  per  cent.,  what  then  ?  That 
elevation,  slight  as  it  is,  enables  him  to  see  more  clearly 
his  degraded  condition,  and  to  feel  more  keenly  his  dis- 
advantages, and  to  be  still  more  indisposed  to  his  supe- 
riors. We  go  twenty  per  cent. — sight,  feeling,  enmity,  are 
all  intensified.  At  fifty  per  cent.,  being  willing  that  the 
negroes  be  that  much  superior,  but  that  much  inferior, 
we  call  a  halt.  But  at  this  point  we  find  ourselves  in  a 
double  dilemma.  The  negroes  are  now  in  a  position  to 
see  ten-fold  their  degraded  lot,  and  to  feel  ten-fold  their 
disadvantages,  and  when  the  command  "Halt!"  is  heard 
they  will  be  little  disposed  to  respond  "' Yea !"  and  being 
now  more  enlightened,  they  will  be  stronger,  and  they 
will  demand  a  further  advance  to  sixty,  seventy,  and  will 
not  be  content  until  the  full  hundred  mark  is  reached. 
But  the  whites  will  then  be  at  a  disadvantage,  for  having 
gone  fifty  per  cent.,  they  can  give  no  reason  for  not  con- 
ceding the  demand  for  seventy,  and  then  for  eighty,  and 
then  for  the  full  hundred.  AVe  should  stop  at  once  and 
retrace  our  steps  or  go  forward  to  the  end,  for  three  alter- 
natives await  our  present  course.  The  negroes,  being  par- 
tially elevated,  looking  behind  and  seeing  the  horrible  pit 


122         The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 

whence  they  have  escaped,  and  looking  forward  and  see- 
ing the  immense  benefits  to  be  gained  and  almost  within 
their  reach,  will  never  cease  their  efforts  until  they  have 
gained  the  whole  one  hundred  per  cent.,  and  are  as  free 
and  as  equal  citizens  as  the  proudest  whites.  Tliis  is  one 
alternative.  Or  the  w^hites,  opposing  all  further  advance, 
will  strenuously  resist,  and  becoming  embittered  by 
opposition  will  not  rest  until  they  have  succeeded  in  com.- 
pletely  disarming  the  blacks  and  reducing  them  to  a  con- 
dition of  absolute  and  complete  subordination  and  degra- 
dation. This  is  another  alternative.  Or  neither  side  being 
strong  enough  to  have  its  way,  there  must  be  continual 
and  alternate  defeats  and  victories,  advances  and  retreats — 
a  perpetual  strife  and  discord — and  factions  must  rend 
the  community,  in  which  event  the  State  must  languish 
and  prosperity  disappear,  for  prosperity  dwells  only  where 
concord  reigns.  This  is  the  third  aUernative.  The  first 
means  peace,  happiness,  prosperity  for  all ;  the  other  two 
mean  strife,  sorrow,  adversity  for  all.  This,  however,  is 
the  age  of  reason,  and  w^e  may  therefore  look  forward  with 
confidence  to  the  day  when  the  first  alternative,  after  many 
difficulties,  delays,  and  dangers,  shall  wear  the  crown  of 
victory.  We  older  ones  will  not  see  that  day,  but  our 
grandchildren  will,  for  the  light  of  coming  day  already 
irradiates  the  eastern  sky. 

But  what  of  this  smouldering  enmity?  It  may  mean 
that  society  may  at  times  be  upset,  and  it  may  mean  dis- 
turbances of  greater  or  less  violence,  and  it  may  mean 
only  sullen  but  silent  discontent;  but  it  does  mean  that 
the  negroes  will  always  be  on  the  alert  to  welcome  divis- 
ions in  the  white  ranks,  and  to  coalesce  with  any  faction, 
whether  they  be  worthy  citizens  rebelling  against  corrupt 
ring  rule  and  seeking  the  public  w^elfare,  or  are  merely 
unscrupulous  adventurers  in  search  of  their  own  selfish 
ends,  for  they  will  naturally  say  change  for  us  has  no  ter- 
rors, for  we  cannot  possibly  be  worsted,  being  at  the  hot- 


Qjo?!  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


121 


torn  alreacl}';  on  the  contrary,  change  for  us  is  welcome 
because  it  may  bring  advantage.  The  whites,  therefore, 
instead  of  bending  all  their  time,  thoughts,  and  energies, 
tovvards  promoting  prosperity,  will  be  engaged  in  watch- 
ing the  negroes  to  prevent  such  coalitions,  or,  having  been 
formed,  in  circumventing  them.  Instead  of  working,  the 
whites  will  rather  be  constantly  on  guard,  and  living,  as 
it  vrere,  in  entrenched  camps.  But  granting  the  whites 
long  and  undisputed  lease  of  power,  the  danger  is  not 
removed;  only  delayed,  but  intensified.  Long  lease  of 
power  begets  bosses ;  bosses  beget  abuses ;  abuses  beget 
frauds  of  all  kinds  in  order  to  perpetuate  themselves, 
and  frauds,  becoming  unbearable,  finally  beget  factions, 
upheavals,  or  even  revolutions ;  and  when  faction  or  rev- 
olution controls  public  affairs,  there  is  no  predicting  to 
what  length  resentment  and  revenge  may  not  go. 

But  most  people  will  say,  "Give  the  negroes  an  inch, 
and  they  will  take  an  ell ;  unless  we  deprive  them  of  their 
political  rights,  their  numerical  superiority  in  some  States 
and  coalition  in  other  States  with  ambitious  and  unscrtt- 
pulous  whites  will  give  them  complete  control  of  the 
South,  and  we  will  soon  see  again  reconstruction  days, 
when,  led  by  scalawags  and  carpet-baggers,  they  wrecked 
all  they  controlled."  Such  reasoning  is,  however,  alto- 
gether illogical  and  chimerical,  and  is  begotten  of  unmanly 
timidity.  It  requires  like  conditions  to  produce  like 
effects,  but  neither  the  times,  nor  the  negroes,  nor  even 
the  whites,  are  anything  like,  and  can  never  be  like,  they 
were  for  a  few  years  after  the  war.  Then,  mth  the  negroes 
just  enfranchised  and  enthused  with  most  extravagant 
expectations, nothing  was  improbable  or  even  impossible: 
but  when  the  conduct  of  the  negroes  and  their  allies  is 
compared  with  that  of  the  peasantry  of  France  during  the 
Revolution,  as  set  forth  by  Taine,  one  is  amazed  at  the 
little  evil  they  wrought.  During  that  awful  period  France 
was  plundered  and  brought  to  the  verge  of  starvation  by 


124         The  Prosjyerity  of  the  South  Dependent 

her  own  children;  her  best  people  were  exiled,  murdered 
or  guillotined,  and  her  fair  bosom  was  converted  into  a 
frightful  scene  of  arson,  pillage  and  bloodshed ,  but  the 
negroes  and  their  allies  merely  stole.  Eeconstruction  days 
are  as  much  of  the  past  as  are  the  fearful  times  of  Tibe- 
rius, of  the  Inquisition,  of  Thomas  Cromwell,  of  the  Reign 
of  Terror,  and  are  no  more  likely  to  return ;  and  those 
who  seek  to  excite  our  fears  by  preaching  their  return  are 
either  blind,  timid,  or  corrupt,  and  are  unworthy  of  our 
confidence.  The  negroes  have  learned  a  great  deal  the 
past  twenty-five  years ;  they  have  learned  in  some  degree 
that  their  own  welfare  is  bound  up  in  good  government, 
and  they  would  therefore  be  willing  to  hearken  to  and 
cooperate  with  us,  and  thus  keep  aff'airs  in  the  hands  of 
the  worthiest,  did  we  but  show  slight  regard  to  all  their 
rights  and  privileges ;  and  the  only  sure  way  for  us  per- 
manently to  maintain  control  is  to  make  them  sharers 
with  us  in  the  honors  and  the  privileges  of  government. 
Our  present  attitude  will  forever  repel  them  and  make 
them  deaf  to  our  most  persuasive  solicitations;  change 
that  attitude  to  one  of  justice  and  fair  dealing,  and  enough 
will  come  to  us  to  banish  forever  the  dread  of  so-called 
negro  rule. 

Having  seen  what  may  occur,  let  us  now  recall  what 
has  occurred.  Several  years  ago  there  was  a  split  in  the 
Democratic  party  of  Virginia  on  the  subject  of  the  State 
debt.  The  minority,  though  led  by  able  men,  chief  of 
whom  was  General  William  Mahone,  found  itself  help- 
less ;  but  as  the  leaders  were  ambitious  as  well  as  able, 
they  seceded  and  sought  the  assistance  of  the  negroes, 
who  responded  promptly  to  the  invitation,  not  that  they 
knew  or  cared  anything  about  the  debt,  but  they  knew 
the  Democratic  party  was  their  enemy,  and  they  knew 
that  they  could  not  be  injured  and  might  be  benefited ; 
or  that  if  they  could  not  in  tlie  end  shout  victory,  they 
could  at  least  sing  revenge.    In  a  short  time  the  minor- 


upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Xegro. 


125 


ity.  with  the  aid  of  the  uegroes,  gained  complete  mastery 
of  the  State.  A  clean  sweep  of  every  office  was  made. 
Judges,  school  superintendents,  and  even  directors  of 
eleemosynary  institutions,  were  turned  out  or  legislated 
out.  and  in  a  year  or  two  the  Democratic  party,  which 
had  controlied  the  State  from '  its  birth,  was  as  impotent 
as  it  is  in  the  Green  ^Mountain  State.  Virginia  was  now 
a  satrapy,  and  ]\rahone  was  its  satrap.  He  set  up  one 
and  he  pulled  down  another,  like  a  Pharaoh;  he  abso- 
lutely controlled  all  Federal  appointments  within  the 
State,  and  he  might,  with  great  truth,  say,  as  did  the 
Grand  Monarque,  "  I  am  the  State."  Bitter  factions  rent 
the  State,  families  were  divided,  father  fi'om  son,  and 
brother  from  brother,  and  a  great  gloom  settled  upon  the 
whites.  They  felt  as  if  they  had  passed  beneath  portals 
upon  which  were  inscribed,  ''He  who  enters  here  let  him 
bid  adieu  to  hope,"  for  hope  had  seemed  to  have  deserted 
the  land.  But  even  these  were  not  reconstruction  days. 
Such  times,  however,  are  liable  to  occur  at  any  time  as 
long  as  we  say  to  the  negroes,  as  we  do  to  our  pointer 
dogs,  "'Down,  down,""  followed  with  the  lash,  if  obedience 
is  not  instant.  To  escape  sucli  dangers,  there  is  only  one 
way — respect  all  the  negroes'  rights  as  scrupulously  as  we 
do  our  owu, 


126         The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


Chapter  XXII. 


THE  DANGERS  THREATENED  FROM  THE  PRESENT  CONDITION 
OP  THE  NEGRO— DANGERS  FROM  WITHOUT. 

Dangers  of  Sectionalism  Not  Eemoved  by  Emancipation,  but 
Direction  Changed — Weakness  of  the  South  Sure  to  Con- 
tinue aud  to  Increase — Tables  Showing  This— Constitution 
Impotent  to  Protect — Partisan  Majority  in  Congress  can 
Absolutely  Disfranchise  Every  Southern  State. 

Although  sectional  divisions  on  the  line  of  slavery  are 
gone,  sectional  divisions  on  the  line  of  geography  and 
interest  are  still  in  full  vigor.  There  are  yet  New  Eng- 
land, Middle  State,  Western,  Northwestern,  and  Pacific 
sections,  all  more  or  less  united  in  interest  and  blood,  and 
there  is  yet  the  Southern  section,  which  is  diverse  in  inter- 
est and  lineage  from  the  other  sections. 

In  matters  of  national  legislation,  therefore,  there  are 
likely  to  be  two  great  sections,  namely,  the  South  on  one 
hand,  and  the  North  and  West  on  the  other  hand;  and 
what  one  section  specially  favors,  the  other  section  will 
probably  oppose;  and  as  sectional  legislation  has  always 
been  a  great,  and,  we  may  say,  an  inevitable  evil,  so  we 
must  expect  it  in  the  future,  for  whatever  is  or  seems  to 
be  for  the  advantage  of  a  section  will  be  advocated  by 
that  section,  though  the  whole  army  of  wise  men  and 
saints  should  arise  from  the  dead  and  pronounce  it  wrong. 
Change  conditions,  but  not  change  location,  and  New 
England  and  Pennsylvania  would  be  for  free  trade,  and 
the  South  would  be  for  protection.    The  lever  to  move 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


127 


the  world  that  Archimedes  sought,  but  never  found,  i; 
interest,  or  seeming  interest.  Take  away  our  seeming 
interest  in  heaven,  and  every  church  Vv-ill  be  closed  in 
twelve  months  and  the  pastors  be  roughing  it  in  the  world 
instead  of  basking  in  the  smiles  and  feeding  on  the  adula- 
tions of  the  "  sisters." 

Having,  then,  still  to  deal  with  sections  and  sectional 
interests,  let  us  inquire  what  are  the  prospects  of  the  South 
for  increasing,  or  even  holding,  her  own  in  this  sectional 
race  or  strife.  Taking  only  the  present  thirty-eight  States 
and  adding  Delaware,  Maryland,  "West  Virginia,  Kentucky 
and  Missouri  to  the  eleven  Southern  States,  the  popula- 
tion in  1880  w^as  respectively  17,622,381  and  31,748,951), 
and  the  area  is  respectively  901,740  and  1,185,020  square 
miles.  Present  representation  in  congress  is — senate,  32 
and  44,  and  house,  121  and  204. 

Now,  granting  an  equal  ratio  of  increase  of  population 
in  the  two  great  sections,  the  proportion  of  the  represen- 
tatives in  1 890  will,  on  the  basis  of  thirty  per  cent,  increase 
in  population,  be  157  and  265,  and  in  1900,  on  tlie  same 
basis,  203  and  344,  or  the  majority  against  us  now  of  S3 
will  be  increased  to  108  and  141. 

But  this  is  not  all.  Back  of  the  States  lie  a  number  of 
Territories,  and  before  long  they  will  be  taking  their  places 
in  the  halls  of  legislation.  Let  us  see  how  they  will  nat- 
urally divide  as  for  or  against  the  South  : 


For  the  South. 

Against  the  South. 

New  Mexico  

122,580  i 

■  Utah  

84,970 

Arizona  

113,000 

,  "Washington  .... 

69,180 

Indian  

64,690 

Dakota  

149,100 

84.800 

146,080 

i  Wyoming  .  ... 

97,890 

Total  

300,270 

Total  

632,020 

128         The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 

In  course  of  time,  therefore,  certainly  within  ten  years, 
the  South,  as  a  section,  will  be  still  further  weakened — 
that  is,  relatively,  as  one  to  two,  for  at  the  most  she  can 
only  expect  to  gain  six  senators  and  300,270  square  miles, 
while  the  opposing  section  gains  twelve  senators  and 
632,020  square  miles.  If  Dakota  succeeds  in  being 
divided  the  gain  will  be  six  to  fourteen.  In  the  house 
our  relative  increase  will  not  be  any  greater  and  most 
probably  much  less.  As  showing  that  the  new  States 
will  likely  be  anti-Southern,  we  note  that  nine  States 
have  been  added  to  the  Union  since  the  annexation  of 
Texas,  and  all  except  West  Virginia  are  bitter  Republican 
States.  These  are  the  opposing  forces  the  South  will  have 
to  meet  on  questions  of  a  sectional  character;  and  what  is 
she  going  to  do  if  they  should  arise,  as  they  are  sure  to 
do? 

The  South  feels  safe  under  the  shelter  of  the  constitu- 
\  tion,  and  allowing  that  that  sacred  instrument  will  not 
again  be  wrested  from  its  true  intent  and  meaning, 
although  our  past  experience  should  teach  us  to  place  lit- 
tle dependence  upon  constitutions,  is  she  then  safe  from 
partial,  hostile  or  even  revolutionary  measures?  Grant- 
ing she  has  not  only  a  majority  but  the  whole  of 
the  supreme  court,  and  granting  she  has  the  president 
too,  she  is  not  safe  if  sectionalism  becomes  aroused,  and 
her  safety  line  is  not  reached  until  she  controls  Supreme 
Court,  Senate  and  House.  How  is  this  ?  Because  both 
the  Senate  and  the  House  are  absolute  judges  of  the  elec- 
tion and  qualification  of  its  own  members.  Let  us  see, 
and  let  us  take  for  example  the  denial  of  suffrage  to  the 
blacks.  The  South  makes  no  denial  of  the  charge,  but 
defends  it  on  the  plea  of  necessity.  This  plea  may  satisfy 
us,  and  it  will,  because  it  appears  to  be  for  our  benefit; 
but  suppose  the  other  sections  are  not  satisfied,  and  that 
they  demand  a  free  vote  and  a  fair  count  in  the  South,  as 
well  as  everywhere  else ;  and  suppose,  further,  that  the 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


129 


Republican  party  gains  the  house,  as  it  already  controls 
the  senate,  what  may  it  do?  We  will  take  for  example 
the  State  of  Georgia,  and  suppose  that  after  the  house  is 
organized  contestants  from  some  or  all  the  districts  allege 
intimidation,  what  may  follow? 

Looking  at  the  returns  and  finding  that  less  than  thirty 
thousand  voters  elected  in  1886,  ten  congressmen,  or, 
indeed,  without  looking  at  them  at  all,  the  House  may 
unseat  every  congressman,  and  who,  Supreme  Court,  Sen- 
ate, President,  can  prevent?  And  what  can  prevent 
them  from  doing  the  same  to  every  Southern  State,  and 
it  completely  deprive  them  of  representation,  or  let 
them  be  represented  by  Republican  contestants  ?  Noth- 
ing  except  the  public  sentiment  of  their  own  section. 
And  all  the  senate  has  to  do  is  to  refuse  every  Southern 
senator,  on  the  ground  that  the  Legislature  of  his  State 
was  not  elected  by  a  fair  vote.  The  South  will  then  be 
in  a  bad  dilemma,  either  unrepresented  or  misrepresented, 
and  there  will  be  no  limit  to  the  arbitrary  or  revengeful 
legislation  that  may  be  enacted,  and  never  again  will  a 
Democratic  president  be  elected  by  her  vote.  To  be  weak 
and  right  is  miserable ;  to  be  weak  and  wrong  is  deplora- 
ble. In  the  first  case,  one's  right  will  be  a  powerful 
defense  against  wrong ;  in  the  last  case,  one  has  no 
defense,  and  his  misfortune  will  excite  no  sympathy,  but 
on  the  contrary,  the  verdict  wdll  be,  served  him  right. 

If  the  South  wishes  to  bring  this  evil  upon  herself,  let 
her  continue  in  her  present  course,  and  she  will  have  her 
wish  gratified  by  the  year  1900.  The  whites  may  by 
that  time  see  themselves  disfranchised  by  rejection  of 
their  representatives,  or  they  may  see  themselves  misrep- 
resented by  contestants  who  are  most  likely  to  be  incom- 
petent and  revengeful.  But  if  the  whites  wish  to  retain 
control  of  affairs  they  cannot  begin  too  soon,  not  only  to 
permit,  but  to  encourage,  the  blacks  to  use  their  franchise 
freely  and  fully.    Some   congressmen  and  legislators 


130  Tlie  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 

will  undoubtedly  be  lost  thereby,  but  better  many  of  them 
be  lost,  and  thus  mitigate  the  just  enmity  of  the  negroes 
and  disarm  sectional  majorities,  only  too  eager  for  pre- 
texts. Sectionalism  is  powerful  and  irresistible  when 
founded  on  right,  but  w^hen  founded  on  error,  time  and 
discussion  will  rob  it  of  its  venom. 

While  we  disfranchise  we  give  sectionalism  a  powerful 
lever  to  root  us  up,  but  when  we  give  a  free  vote  to  every 
citizen  and  a  fair  count  we  need  not  fear  sectionalism  or 
anything  else,  for  our  right  will  be  a  panoply  to  protect 
us  from  all  assaults,  v  No  man,  no  party,  no  section,  can 
afford  to  plant  itself  upon  a  fallacy,  much  less  upon  a 
^  wrong;  and  when  the  South  takes  her  stand  upon  practi- 
cal denial  of  suffrage  to  her  negro  citizens  she  commits  a 
monumental  wrong,  which  must  be  atoned  for  by  many 
tribulations.  The  people,  the  world,  we  ourselves,  though 
nursing  and  defending  our  own  wrongs,  are  opponents  and 
enemies  of  the  wrongs  of  others,  and  on  this  principle  we 
shall  have  not  only  the  violent  opposition  of  the  other 
sections,  but  they  will  be  upheld  by  the  sympathies  of  the 
world.  As  a  general  observes  with  delight  the  blunders 
of  his  adversary,  and  gloats  over  his  victory  in  advance, 
so  we  may  imagine  our  political  enemies  rejoicing  over 
our  wrong  movements,  and  gloating  over  the  idea-  that, 
in  a  few  years,  by  the  natural  increase  of  their  section, 
they  will  again  by  our  errors  be  placed  not  only  again  in 
control  of  the  National  Government,  but  also  in  absolute 
control  of  the  South  itself.  We  may  then  call  upon  the 
Supreme  Court,  but  our  enemies  will  laugh  at  us,  and,  like 
the  prophets  and  the  priests  of  Baal,  they  will  tell  us,  call 
louder,  you  don't  call  loud  enough  ;  the  court  isaslee])or 
on  a  vacation;  for  by  the  power  of  congress  of  deciding 
upon  the  qualifications  of  its  members,  they  can  keep  out 
every  one  of  our  representatives,  or  admit  only  those 
whose  sentiments  suit  them.  They  will  not  even  be 
under  the  necessity  of  tampering  with  the  Supreme  Court, 


Z)oon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


131 


as  was  done  during  Grant's  administration,  because  it  will 
be  impotent  and  despised.  When  the  other  sections  sim- 
ply demand  that  the  Sotith  shall  allow  the  same  unre- 
stricted vote  and  the  same  untampered  count  in  the  elec- 
tion of  congressmen  and  of  legislators  that  elect  senators, 
Ave  cannot  savin  reply.  Oh  I  the  bloody  shirt,  but  we  shall 
be  speechless. 

The  South  would  make  a  tremendous  ado,  and  very 
rightly,  too,  if  a  Xorthern  oligarchy  of  half  the  population 
Avas  to  claim  and  assume  the  right  to  vote  for  the  whole 
population  in  the  election  of  national  representatives,  and 
it  would  make  a  greater  ado  still  if  an  oligarchy  of  manu- 
facturers were  to  exercise  this  right:  but  there  is  no  sub- 
stantial difference  between  this  and  what  the  South  does 
in  relation  to  negro  suffrage.  Tlie  other  sections  will  see. 
if  they  do  not  already,  that  they  are  right,  and  they  Avill 
not  cease  their  efforts  until  tlie  South  yields  voluntaiily 
or  is  forced,  and  then  after  the  South  yields  through  com- 
pulsion, we  cannot  blame  others  if  we  are  forced  to  take 
back  seats  until  we  have  gone  through  a  long  probation. 
Better  surrender  now  Avitli  the  honors  of  the  Avar,  or  rather 
with  the  honors  of  riglit,  than  to  wait  for  years  and  then 
surrender  at  discretion.  If  there  is  any  truth  in  experi- 
ence these  are  the  only  two  alternatiA^es. 

If  the  South  intends  to  maintain  her  present  posture  of 
caste  and  practical  denial  of  negro  suffrage,  she  must,  in 
addition  to  stopping  at  once  all  education  of  the  negroes, 
place  a  close  and  lofty  cordon  around  her,  not  only  to  pre- 
vent all  ingress,  but  also  all  egress — that  is  to  say,  we  must 
shut  ourselves  out  from  the  world  as  completely  as  China 
did  for  many  centuries,  and  we  must  now,  in  these  days 
of  light  ancl  ciAulization,  imitate  China  in  tlie  days  oi 
ignorance  and  barbarism.  She  must  at  once  cease  her 
pleadings,  humiliating  from  their  despairing  urgency,  to 
Xorthern  people  to  come  down  and  take  possession  of  and 


132         The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


develop  her  resources,  although  manhood  and  a  very 
moderate  sense  of  pride  should  make  her  develop  them 
herself;  but  she  should  repel  all  who  voluntarily  come,  and 
she  should  also  forbid  her  citizens  passing  her  boundaries 
and  seeing  what,  the  world  is  thinking,  saying  and  doing. 
As  oxygen  in  the  economy  of  nature,  so  is  light,  thought, 
intelligence  to  Southern  politico-social  economy.  As  oxy- 
gen corrodes  and  finally  devours  the  dying  and  the  dead, 
as  it  is  destruction  to  everything  that  does  not  keep  step 
with  progress  towards  perfection,  and  will  thus,  in  time, 
perhaps,  by  its  removal  of  wrecks,  obstructions  and  decay- 
ing matters,  produce  perfection,  so  light,  thought,  intelli- 
gence, will  as  inevitably  upset  or  overturn  everything  that 
cannot  approve  itself  on  the  ground  of  right  and  reason. 
If,  therefore,  we  let  others  come  in,  our  system  of  caste 
and  denial  of  suffrage  is  at  once  put  to  the  test  of  right 
and  reason;  and  if  we  let  our  citizens  go  out  into  the 
world,  their  ideas  on  the  same  subject  are  at  once  put  on 
tlie  defense  by  everything  they  see  in  the  moving,  stirring 
and  progressive  outside  world;  and  if  our  defenses  are 
weak,  then,  like  flimsy  barriers  against  a  current,  they 
must  inevitably  give  way:  those  who  come  among  us, 
being  born  with  different  ideas,  and  those  of  our  sons  who 
have  gone  abroad  and  imbibed  the  spirit  of  the  world, 
both  cooperating  to  tear  down  what  we  are  now  so  fondly 
and  blindl}^  upholding. 

^\"hat  reason  can  we  give  for  our  present  stand  but  the 
fear  that  something  may  occur  that  would  be  injurious  to 
the  present  order  of  affairs?  But  this  is  no  better  reason, 
but  is  the  very  same  that  has  been  offered  since  man 
assembled  into  a  rude  community,  by  all  abuses,  by  all 
tyrants,  by  all  despots.  All  these  oppose  change  solely 
on  the  ground  that  the  pleasant  order  of  affairs  of  which 
they  are  the  principal  beneficiaries  may  be  altered  to  their 
disadvantage,  and  to  maintain  the  status  quOj  they  resort 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


133 


to  stripes,  imprisonments,  dungeons,  and  scaffolds.  As 
light,  intelligence,  reason  spread,  they,  like  oxygen  in  the 
physical  world,  corrode  and  finally  consume  all  such  fal- 
lacies and  sophisms,  and  at  last  evoh^e  from  corruptions, 
abuses  and  tyrannies  of  all  kinds,  the  beautiful  and 
beneficent  structure  of  liberty  and  equality,  when  all  can 
say  they  are  equal  citizens  of  an  equal  government.  But 
the  South  cannot  stand  this  acid  test  of  light,  intelligence 
and  reason,  and,  therefore,  if  she  intends  to  maintain  her 
present  status,  she  must,  in  addition  to  all  her  other 
methods,  exclude  all  from  without  and  constrain  all  within 
to  remain  within. 


134         The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


Chapter  XXI 1 1. 


WHAT  OP  THE  FUTURE? 
Present  Status  Likely  to  Pass  Away — Day  Breaks. 

If  there  be  truth  in  the  aphorism,  "That  where  truth 
and  error  are  free  to  corobat,  truth  is  sure  finally  to  pre- 
vail," then  there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  ultimate  issue 
of  the  conflict  between  caste  and  equality :  caste  is  the 
essence  of  the  political  and  social  Southern  problem, 
denial  of  the  ballot  being  merely  an  incident  of  caste. 
On  this  question  we  are  not  left  alone  to  reasoning,  but 
we  have  as  well  experience  in  the  world  at  large,  but  bet- 
ter still,  we  have  experience  in  the  South  itself. 

As  already  said,  the  world,  meaning  thereby  individu- 
als, communities  and  nations — the  world,  which  is  no 
meaningless  term,  but,  in  these  modern  days  of  quick 
communication,  is  a  vast  engine  for  the  expression  and 
dissemination  of  social  and  political  influence,  although 
it  may  be  obstinately  wedded  to  its  own  particular  evils 
and  abuses — is  strongly  inclined  to  force  virtue  on  others 
and  compel  them  to  correct  their  abuses.  All  the  world's 
a  stage,  doubtless,  but  all  the  world  is  likewise,  in  respect 
of  abuses,  a  number  of  beleaguered  camps,  into  whicli 
others  are  perpetually  pouring  hot  shot  and  exploding 
bombs,  shattering  defences  and  uprooting  errors  and 
abuses  of  every  kind;  and  so,  if  the  South  determines 
to  maintain  her  present  status,  so  foreign  to  modern 
enlightenment,  she  must  prepare  to  defend  her  ground 
against  all  comers,  for  she  may  be  sure  that  when  the 
world  is  attacking  other  people's  errors  and  abuses,  she, 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


135 


too,  will  find  adversaries  at  every  point  of  the  compass. 
People  feel  that  when  they  are  attacking  others'  errors, 
faulis,  vices,  they  are  somehow  condoning  their  own 
shortcomings,  and,  as  the  world  will  have  the  same  feel- 
ing when  attacking  the  errors  and  abuses  of  the  South, 
we  may  be  sure  that  the  world  will  come  up  to  the  assault 
with  great  alacrity.  The  South,  then,  should  be  very 
sure  of  its  ground  before  inviting  the  onslaught,  for  mere 
heavy  battalions  have  a  tendency  to  attract  the  favor  oi 
Providence;  but  heavy  battalions,  supported  by  right, 
reason  and  intelligence,  are  absolutely  sure  to  conquer. 
If  these  truths  are  "self-evident,  that  all  men  are  created  ♦ 
equal ;  that  the}^  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  cer- 
tain inalienable  rights;  that  among  these  rights  are  life, 
liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,"  then  we  have  no 
defense  for  that  caste  upon  which  Southern  society  is 
built,  or  for  denying  to  many,  or  even  to  a  few,  rights  which 
we  claim  for  the  whites  alone.  But,  denying  these  truths 
to  be  self-evident,  or  even  denying  them  to  be  truths  at 
all,  what  defense  can  we  offer? 

Shall  we  say  color  ?  'We  shall  then  be  forced  to  define 
what  we  mean  by  color — whether  we  mean  only  the  pure 
Caucasian,  or  the  Caucasian  and  Semitic,  or  the  Caucasian, 
Semitic  and  Mongolian,  or  the  Caucasian,  Semitic,  j\Ion- 
golian  and  Red  Indian.  AVe  will  be  compelled  not  only 
to  draw  the  line  somewhere,  but  we  shall  be  compelled 
to  give  sound  reasons  for  drawing  the  line  at  the  division 
we  select.  And  vrill  it  be  possible  to  do  this  ?  And  if  a 
majority  to-day  decides  against  black,  and  to-morrow 
against  yellow,  why  may  not  a  majority  decide  on  another 
day  to  discriminate  against  one  branch  of  the  Caucasian, 
and  again,  as  did  the  Know-Xothings,  against  all  Cau- 
casians vvdio  lived  beyond  certain  limits  of  a  small  por- 
tion of  North  America?  AVe  can't  defend  color  for  a 
moment  unless  we  contend  for  segregating  every  small 
portion  of  the  human  family,  and  decide  in  favor  of 


136  The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


reverting  the  civilized  world  to  its  original  savage  and 
barbaric  elements,  for  "color,"  if  carried  out,  leads  log- 
ically and  inevitably  to  this. 

But  we  may  take  this  stand :  The  negroes  are  ignorant, 
*  are  lazy,  are  mendacious,  are  dishonest,  are  licentious, 
and  are  therefore  utterly  unworthy  of  social  and  political 
equality.  Granted,  and  granted  to  the  fullest  extent; 
but  the  more  degraded,  the  world  will  say,  the  greater 
obligation  resting  upon  us  to  rescue  them  from  their 
blighted  and  brutalized  condition.  We  cannot  deport 
them,  because  they  are  too  many,  and  we  cannot  get  rid 
of  them  in  any  other  way.  They  are  with  us  to  remain, 
and  they  are  citizens,  and  the  world  will  make  it  its 
business  to  see  that  they  are  not  arbitrarily  kept  in  their 
present  condition.  AVe  can  no  more  defend  our  attitude 
towards  the  negroes  than  could  the  Algerian  corsairs 
defend  their  attitude  to  the  Christian  world ;  than  can 
despots  defend  their  attitude  to  their  subjects,  or  than 
can  state  churches  and  powerful  nobility  defend  their 
attitude  to  the  people — all  of  which  have  passed  or  will 
pass  away,  and  so  will  pass  away  the  attitude  of  the 
whites  to  the  blacks. 

Caste  will  struggle  hard,  as  it  always  does  when  its 
'  privileges  are  endangered,  to  maintain  the  present  status; 
but  all  its  efforts  will  be  in  vain,  and  it  must  fall  before 
the  assaults  of  the  world,  founded,  as  these  assaults  are, 
upon  right,  reason  and  material  good.  The  battle  will 
be  long  and  obstinate;  but  darkness,  oppression  and 
nijustice  will,  and  must,  go  down  before  the  assaults 
directed  against  them  from  all  points  of  the  enlightened 
w^orld.  Victory  may  and  will  be  deferred  and  delayed, 
but  it  is  sure. 

But,  as  already  said,  we  have  not  to  depend  upon  rea- 
soning; we  have  experience  for  our  guide.  Virginia  is 
much  ahead  of  her  Southern  sisters  in  acknowledging 
the  rights  of  the  negroes ;  but  this  is  not  because  Vir- 


LJjO'/i  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


137 


ginians  are  superior  naturally  to  their  brethren,  but  sim- 
ply because  \^iri:;-inia  is  nearer  to  the  world,  and  is  there- 
fore more  affected  by  its  enlightening  influences  than  are 
the  more  remote  States;  and  the  more  she  comes  in  con- 
tact with  the  world,  the  more  fully  will  all  the  rights  of 
the  negro  be  accorded,  and  the  greater  wnll  be  their  eleva- 
tion, and  the  greater  will  be  her  prosperity.  And  what 
comes  to  pass  in  Virginia,  will  also,  under  enlightening 
influences,  come  to  pass  later  in  the  other  States,  till 
finally  distinctions  of  race  and  caste  wnll  disappear; 
society  will  become  tolerably  homogeneous,  and  will  not 
be  torn  by  conflicting  and  contending  interests,  and  only 
such  social  distinctions  will  survive  as  we  see  at  present 
m  private  life,  wdiere  we  associate  only  wnth  those  whom 
inclination  selects.  When  society  becomes  homogeneous 
then,  and  onlv  then,  shall  w^e  behold  the  full  and  com- 
plete prosperity  of  the  South. 


138  Tlie  Prosperity  of  tJie  South  Dependent 


Chapter  XXIV. 


TO  THE  NORTH. 

In  Vain  to  Preach  Right  until  Interest  is  Shown  to  be  on  the 
Side  of  Right — Example  of  Eagland  and  India,  and  of  the 
Manufacturing  States  and  Rest  of  the  Country. 

While  the  elevation  of  the  negro  is  primarily  a  South- 
ern question,  it  is  not  wholly  so.  You,  too,  if  not  as 
vitally,  are  also  vitally  interested  therein ;  and  I  now 
address  you  on  the  same  momentous  subject. 

You  will  observe  that  I  have  appealed  little,  if  at  all, 

-  to  right,  justice,  morals,  or  religion,  but  that  the  burden 
of  the  argument  has  been  dollars  and  cents,  and  the 
exhortation  to  elevate  has  not  been  because  this  was  great 
or  noble,  but  simply  because  it  would  be  profitable.  And 
this  key-note  of  appeal  to  the  pocket,  which  many  will 
consider  as  ignoble,  was  deliberately  struck,  not  because 
Southerners  are  worse  than  others  or  less  susceptible  to 

^  arguments  of  the  loftiest  kind,  but  simply  because  all 
experience  proves  that  human  nature  must  be  interested 
on  its  material  side  before  its  intellectual  and  moral 
instincts  can  be  permanently  stimulated.  In  order  to 
move  men  to  practice  justice  and  right  they  must  first  be 
convinced  that  it  will  be  profitable  for  them  to  do  so. 
Occasionall}^  the  individual  by  "a  supreme  efi'ort  will  sac- 
rifice a  great  deal  in  order  to  do  right,  but  never  does  a 
community  voluntarily  do  right  at  the  expense  of  seem- 
ing interest. 

For  example  :  Grand  as  Great  Britain  is,  leader  of  civ- 
ilization as  she  has  been,  foe  to  slavery  everywhere  as  she 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


139 


was  and  is,  cynosure  of  all  peoples  who  struggle  for  lib- 
erty or  aspire  to  constitutional  government,  will  she,  the 
lighthouse  of  the  world,  loose  her  iron  grasp  from  the 
millions  of  India  whom  she  euphemistically  calls  by  the 
same  name  as  Englishmen  themselves — namely,  sub- 
jects— as  long  as  she  finds  it  profitable  to  rule  them  by 
the  sword,  sheathed  it  may  be,  but  ever  ready  to  leap 
from  its  scabbard  and  to  slay  right  and  left  ?  Never ! 
In  such  case  the  cry  of  right  is  as  the  infant's  wail  in  the 
hurricane's  blast.  Although  Great  Britain  has  no  more 
right  to  hold  these  millions  in  subjection  than  these  mil- 
lions have  to  hold  Great  Britain — and  every  intelligent 
Englishman  will  say,  True — yet  does  not  this  same  Eng- 
lishman, does  not  the  Imperial  Government,  does  not  even 
Gladstone  himself,  as  fair  and  honest  a  statesman  as  ever 
lived,  uphold  and  defend  this  slavery  of  innumerable 
millions  ?  And  why  ?  Simply  because  it  is  to  the  mate- 
rial good  of  England  to  hold  them  in  chains. 

Great  Britain  and  India  are  linked  together  not  by  ties 
of  friendship,  equality,  and  mutual  interest,  but  rather 
by  bands  like  the  bridge  built  by  Satan  for  the  ruin  of 
man  from  the  gates  of  hell  to  the  new-created  earth. 
They  are,  as  it  were,  bound  together  by  a  vast  syphon, 
one  end  of  which  gathers  up  the  riches  of  India  and  the 
other  end  discharges  them  in  a  broad,  lavish  and  peren- 
nial stream  into  the  pockets  of  Englishmen.  In  the  face 
of  such  gain  whistle  to  the  winter's  storm,  rebuke  ocean's 
billows  mountains  high  dashing  against  the  shore,  call 
upon  the  dead  slumbering  in  costly  tombs  or  in  graves 
unmarked  by  mound  or  slightest  shrub,  and  you  will  be 
heeded  sooner  than  by  England  when  you  speak  of  the 
rights  of  India,  the  sweat  and  blood  of  whose  helpless 
children  are  coined  into  golden  ducats  for  the  benefit  of 
her  masters.  In  view  of  this  benefit  it  seems  to  English- 
men no  inconsistency  to  despoil  the  natives  of  almost 
everything  except  a  girdle  around  the  loins  and  a  turban 


140         The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 

upon  the  head,  and  then  spend  a  small  portion  of  this 
enforced  tribute  in  sending  missionaries  to  convert  them 
to  the  religion  of  their  conquerors.  No !  The}^  think 
they  are  thereby  serving  God  acceptably.  Mammon 
blinds  the  eye  to  every  consideration  of  justice  and  equity, 
and  we  can  get  a  hearing  for  these  noble  virtues  only 
when  we  can  show  that  our  own  welfare  will  be  enhanced 
by  observing  them. 

And  so  it  is  vain  to  preach  to  New  England  and  Penn- 
sylvania tl  ^  w^rong — iniquity  is  not  too  strong  a  word — 
of  wresting  the  legislative  machinery  of  a  common  coun- 
try to  selfish  ends  as  long  as  they  find  their  riches 
increased  enormously  thereby.  By  this  arbitrary  and 
unjust  legislative  process  they  construct  huge  syphons, 
not  one,  as  in  the  case  of  India  and  England,  but  many, 
all  of  which  have  their  discharging  ends  resting  upon 
their  States,  or  rather  upon  their  own  particular  employ- 
ments, and  their  other  ends,  like  monstrous  measuring 
worms,  stretch  out  menacingly  and  ominously  towards 
the  agricultural  interests,  and,  settling  upon  them  every- 
where, drain  them  of  their  wealth.  As  long  as  this 
impoverishment  of  the  one  and  this  enrichment  of  the 
other  can  be  maintained,  what  matters  it  to  these  States, 
and  all  similar  beneficiaries,  at  what  expense  to  others 
this  profitable  result  is  obtained.  They  care  not  if  their 
legalized  exactions  bear  onerously  upon  the  vast  majority, 
and  are  literally  crushing  to  the  six  millions  of  Southern 
negroes,  whose  welfare  the  North  claims  to  seek.  Their 
poverty,  great  and  grinding  as  it  is,  excites  no  commise- 
ration in  the  breasts  of  these  beneficiaries  of  partial  and 
arbitrary  laws,  but  on  the  contrary,  through  means  of 
these  laws  they  inexecrably  demand  tribute  upon  all  the 
negroes  wear,  upon  all  tools  and  implements  used  in 
gaining  their  plain  and  scanty  living,  upon  their  medi- 
cines, their  books,  upon  their  very  bibles — mind,  body, 
and  soul  being  laid  under  tribute — a  small  tribute,  per- 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


141 


haps,  upon  the  well-to-do  and  easy  to  be  borne,  but  a 
crushing  one  to  those  whose  means  are  more  than  repre- 
sented by  the  widow's  two  mites. 

What  do  these  burdens,  heavy  and  grievous  to  be 
borne,  matter  to  those  who  reap  the  benefit  of  them  ? 
Nothing.  On  the  contrary,  no  more  satisfied  tli  cin  wore 
the  Romans  with  the  spoil  and  plunder  of  conquered 
provinces,  they  demand  more  and  still  more.  They 
exact  taxes — partial  taxes — not  only  for  the  support  of 
government,  but  they  demand,  if  taxes  are  not  needed 
for  government,  taxes  for  the  benefit  of  themselves — the 
public  revenues  to  be  absolutely  thrown  away  rather  than 
lift  the  burdens  of  others — and  they  literally  demand 
that  the  world  itself  be  shut  out  rather  than  allow  an}^ 
interference  with  their  arbitrary  privileges.  Preach  to 
such  people  of  the  injustice  of  such  a  course  and  you  are 
talking  to  the  deaf.  No,  not  to  the  deaf,  for  they  are  con- 
scious of  some  atmospheric  vibrations,  but  to  the  dead, 
who  will  hear  nothing  less  awakening  than  the  blast  of 
Gabriel's  trump.  Or,  if  allowing  themselves  to  think  for 
a  moment  of  the  galling  poverty  they  are  perpetuating, 
and  if  possible  intensif}' ing,  among  the  millions  of  negroes, 
they  quiet  their  consciences,  as  do  the  English  in  the  case 
of  India,  by  devoting  an  infinitessimal  fragment  of  wiuit 
they  have  wrung  from  these  wretched  creatures  to  sending 
them  the  gospel,  and  a  few  other  thousands  to  educate 
them — mere  drops  in  the  sea,  and  as  ineffectual. 

The  manufacturing  States  will  never  surrender  their 
unrighteous  hold  upon  the  national  legislature  as  long  as 
they  find  it  profitable,  be  the  poverty  of  the  agricultural 
States  never  so  great ;  but  the  agricultural  States  them- 
selves will  support  them  until  it  can  be  proved  to 
their  satisfaction  that  so-called  protection,  in  reality, 
decreasing  their  income  and  increasing  their  expenses,  is 
greatly  to  their  injury,  and  finally  leads  to  their  bank- 
ruptcy.   Until  their  material  interests  are  shown  to  be 


142         The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


injured,  wrong,  injustice,  robbery,  iniquity,  as  applied  to 
so-called  protection,  will  be  idle  words.  Therefore,  in  my 
argument,  ignoring  every  other  motive,  I  have  sought 
only  to  show  that  the  welfare  of  the  whites  themselves  is 
dependent  upon  the  elevation  of  the  negro,  and  until  this 
is  done,  to  preach  to  the  whites  his  elevation  is  as  futile 
as  to  preach  to  Englishmen  "hands  off  India!"  or  to 
New  England  and  Pennsylvania  "hands  off  congress!" 
Until  the  ruling  sentiment  in  each  region  is  convinced 
that  equality  is  for  its  good,  the  negroes  will  be  practical 
slaves  in  the  South,  the  people  of  India  will  be  practical 
slaves  to  England,  and  the  people  of  the  United  States 
will  be  practical  slaves  to  New  England  and  Pennsyl- 
vania. 

Unenlightened  human  nature  is  the  same  everywhere — 
following  what  seems  to  be  for  its  interest;  but,  as  self- 
interest  is  generally  blind,  we  are  more  apt  to  go  astray 
than  go  right,  and  therefore  it  is  that  it  is  necessary  to 
study  patiently  and  industriously  in  order  to  see  where 
our  true  interest  really  lies.  Apparent  interest  is  usually 
forward  and  obtrusive ;  real  interest  is  frequently  hidden 
or  obscure.  The  North  worships  the  protection  of  manu- 
factures ;  the  South  worships  the  protection  of  men — of  a 
caste.  Both  are  wrong,  fur  each  advocates  the  protection 
of  a  part  at  the  expense  of  the  whole. 


Upon  the  Elevatiou  of  the  Negro. 


143 


Chapter  XXV. 


THE  DUTY  OF  THE  XORTH. 

We  must  now  discuss  duties  as  well  as  material  good — 
right  as  v\'ell  as  interest.  AVe  have  hitherto  confined  our- 
selves almost  sol  eh"  to  material  good,  and  we  have  delib- 
erately chosen  what  some  may  think  a  very  low  stand- 
point, not  because  Southerners  are  not  responsive  to  rights 
and  duties,  or  not  because  Northerners  are  in  esse  better 
than  Southerners,  but  we  have  selected  this  point  because 
all  experience  proves  it  vain  to  preach  rights  and  duties 
when  they  are  in  conflict  with  what  appears  to  be 
interest.  But  we  can  now  discuss  duties  toward  a  large 
portion  of  our  fellow-citizens,  because  your  material 
interests  are  not  so  intimately  involved. 

You  have  duties  to  perform,  and  most  serious  ones,  too, 
in  the  matter  of  the  elevation  of  the  negro,  and  the 
negroes  have  most  valid  claims  upon  you,  and  if  you  fail 
to  perform  them  intelligently  nature  will  demand  a  strict 
accounting  at  your  hands.  Although  your  interests  are 
secondary  to  those  of  the  South,  the}^  are  ^^et  great, 
because  in  a  common  country  one  great  section  cannot 
languisii  without  the  other  sections,  even  the  wealthy  and 
prosperous  manufacturing  sections,  suffering  also,  and  if 
the  prosperity  of  the  South  is  dependent  upon  the  eleva- 
tion of  the  negro  your  prosperity  is  intimately  associated 
with  that  of  the  South  :  hence,  if  you  fail  in  your  part, 
then  you,  too,  cannot  escape  the  penalty  of  the  South 
remaining  in  a  stagnant  or  declining  condition  in  conse- 
quence of  the  negroes  remaining  in  a  state  of  degradation. 


144         The  Prosperity  of  the  South  E^ependent 

The  argumentum  ad  hominem,  in  common  parlance  the 
argument  that  3^ou  do  so  yourself,  although  no  argument 
at  all,  nevertheless  performs  the  work  of  the  most  power- 
ful and  persuasive  argument  with  the  average  of  man- 
kind. We  see  this  every  day.  A  man  declines  to  be  a 
Christian  because  some  Christians  are  unfaithful  to  their 
profession.  The  manufacturer  reduces  his  dozens  to  tens 
and  his  pounds  to  ounces,  or  adulterates  his  goods  because 
other  merchants  do  the  same,  and  the  Republican  cheats 
at  elections  because  he  believes  the  Democrat  does.  If 
there  is  any  or  much  self-denial  required  in  doing  right 
most  of  us  decline  to  do  so  on  the  plea  that  so  and  so  does 
v/rong,  and  so  the  greatest  impediment  in  the  way  of 
Southerners  being  willing  to  elevate  the  negro  is  because 
of  your  dereliction  of  duty  towards  him  ;  because  in  the 
North  the  negro  is  frequently  treated  harshly  and 
unjustly;  because  he  is  thrust  in  the  back  ground  and  is 
not  given  a  fair  chance. 

Thus,  although  the  negroes  in  some  parts  of  the  North 
enjoy  many  more  privileges  and  exercise  many  more 
rights  than  in  the  South,  especially  in  the  far  South,  yet 
he  still  labors  under  many  arbitrary  and  artificial  disad- 
vantages. Although  in  the  great  cities  of  New  York, 
Boston  and  Philadelphia,  and,  most  likely,  elsewhere, 
negro  children  are  admitted,  as  a  matter  of  course,  to 
white  schools ;  and  although  the  negro  can  travel  any- 
where without  question,  and  can,  with  exceptions,  attend 
churches,  theatres,  and  official  receptions,  and  put  up  at 
hotels,  without  fear  of  affront,  yet,  in  the  matter  of 
employment,  or  of  making  a  living,  he  labors  under 
many  drawbacks.'  Thus,  while  ia  the  South,  the  negro 
may  be  laborer,  mechanic,  contractor,  or  wliat  not,  and  is 
not  molested  by  his  white  co-laborers,  it  is  not  so  with 
you.  Speaking  as  to  New  York  city,  the  negro  is  not  per- 
mitted to  make  his  living  except  in  the  most  degrading  and 
servile  spheres.    He  cannot  work  on  the  streets  in  public 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro. 


145 


employment,  not  being  allowed  even  to  dig  sewer  trenches ; 
he  cannot  work  as  painter,  carpenter,  mason,  but  he  may 
tote  bricks  up  a  high  ladder  for  the  other  men  to  do  all 
the  work ;  he  cannot  drive  a  truck,  cab,  or  car ;  he  can- 
not, except  for  his  own  color,  be  what  his  soul  most 
delights  in,  namely,  a  barber ;  and  there  are  many  other 
things  he  cannot  clo  without  danger  to  his  skull.  In  a 
word,  he  can  do  nothing  that  Patrick  just  arrived  from 
the  (J"' 'I  t'o////////^/ chooses  to  consider  an  interference  with 
his  pleasures,  profits,  or  even  fancies.  Evidently,  Patrick 
thinks  that  if  lie  is  oppressed  at  home  he  ought  to  be 
allowed  to  opj^ress  somebody,  and  finding,  upon  his  arrival 
in  our  free  and  equal  country,  the  weak  negro,  he,  with 
the  approval,  tacit  at  least,  of  the  Xorth,  of  the  party  of 
great  moral  ideas,  retaliates  his  wrongs  upon  him  and 
drives  him  from  all  employment  but  the  most  menial 
and  the  least  profitable.  The  pleasure  of  being  cheated 
is  stated  to  be  as  great  as  the  pleasure  of  cheating,  but 
Patrick  evidently  believes  that  the  pleasure  of  oppressing 
the  helpless  negro  is  infinitely  greater  than  the  pleasure 
of  being  oppressed  in  Ireland.  The  only  employments  in 
which  the  negroes  are  allowed  freely  to  engage  are  not 
those  which  develop  independence  and  self-respect,  and 
that  bring  ease  and  comfort,  but  those  wdiich  breed  servil- 
ity, namely,  waiters  m  hotels,  gentlemen's  coachmen  and 
valets.  Caste  pursues  and  cripples  the  negro  in  the  Xorth 
as  it  does  in  the  South. 

It  is  probable  that  the  negro  meets  with  similar  treat- 
ment generally  in  the  Xorth  and  West,  because  an 
employee  of  Kirk,  a  great  soap  manufacturer  in  Chicago, 
told  me  that  on  one  occasion  all  Kirk's  workmen,  about 
eight  hundred,  struck  because  two  negroes  were  employed 
in  menial  positions  about  the  office,  and  the  negroes  had 
to  go.  This  was  chivalrous.  Further :  A  lady  w^ho  ^us- 
ited  Columbus,  Ohio,  in  September,  1888,  remarked  to  me 
incidentally  regarding  the  wretchedness,  and  even  squalor, 
7 


146         The  Prosperity  of  the  South  Dependent 


of  the  many  negroes  she  saw  there  and  in  other  parts  of 
Ohio,  showing  that  the  stronger  and  more  intelligent 
whites  had  used  the  strength  of  a  giant,  not  to  uplift, 
but  to  keep  the  negroes  in  a  condition  of  debasement. 
For  negroes  to  earn  in  many  parts  of  the  North  and  West 
a  comfortable  and  respectable  living,  they  must  work  in 
the  dark,  selfishness  seeming  to  begrudge  them  little 
beyond  the  fare  of  the  prodigal  son — the  husks  that  even 
the  swine  refused  to  eat. 

For  the  North  to  clear  its  skirts  of  the  charge  of  hypoc- 
*  risy,  it  must  change  its  own  treatment  of  the  negro;  for 
until  it  says,  Follow  my  example  instead  of  doing  as  I 
exhort,  the  seed  it  sows  may  be  good,  but  it  will  fall  upon 
hard  and  stony  soil.  Negroes  being  in  development  but 
children,  the  North,  if  it  desires  their  elevation,  must  not 
be  indifferent,  or  even  unsympathizing;  must  not  con- 
tent itself  with  merely  letting  things  drift,  its  conscience 
being  satisfied  if  it  places  no  obtructions  in  the  way; 
but,  as  in  the  case  of  children,  it  must  set  itself  resolutely 
and  persistently  to  encourage  them  in  every  way.  It  is 
not  enough  to  say  be  ye  clothed  and  be  ye  fed,  but  it 
must  take  actual  and  practical  steps  to  put  them  in  the 
way  of  earning  for  themselves  that  food  and  that  raiment. 
Instead  of  narrowing  their  range  of  employment,  it 
should  be  expanded  until  commensurate  with  that  of  the 
whites.  All  employments  and  all  offices  should  be  open 
to  them,  and  especially  should  all  pains,  penalties  and 
persecutions  inflicted  upon  them  for  the  sin  of  color  be 
punished  with  a  firm  and  unsparing  hand.  You  must 
create  such  a  public  sentiment  that  the  community 
freely,  cordially  and  practically  recognize  the  fact  as 
fundamental,  as  inalienable,  that  the  negro  enjoy  as  a 
right,  and  not  as  a  privilege  or  condescension,  all  the 
advantages  of  civil  society — such  a  public  sentiment  that 
the  most  reckless  will  no  more  dare  to  infringe  the  rights 
of  the  negro  than  of  the  white.    But  you  must  do  more. 


Upon  the  Elevation  of  the  Negro.  147 

You  must  put  yourself  out  of  the  way  to  encourage  and 
to  stimulate  the  hope  and  the  self-respect  of  the  negro, 
and  you  must  lift  from  his  shoulders  the  weight  of  the 
social  structure  which  still  crushes  him  into  the  dust. 
And,  if  necessary,  in  order  to  accomplish  this  great  end, 
all  your  missionary  societies,  which  are  seeking  to  con- 
vert savages  and  barbarians  in  all  the  ends  of  the  earth, 
should  for  a  few  years  fix  their  eyes  upon  home,  and 
devote  all  their  men,  all  their  means,  and  all  their  talents 
to  convert  the  white  heathen  at  their  own  doors — to  con- 
vert themselves,  practical  heathen  or  infidels,  as  they 
are,  respecting  the  rights  of  the  blacks  of  their  own 
households,  and  of  the  many  millions  in  the  South.  To 
convert  our  own  household,  for  whom  we  are  responsible, 
would  seem  to  be  more  acceptable  service  to  our  Maker 
than  to  go  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  in  search 
of  those  for  whom  we  are  slightly,  if  at  all,  responsible. 

Put  your  own  negroes  in  the  way  of  supporting  them- 
selves with  comfort,  throw  open  all  the  avenues  of  life  to 
them,  encourage  them  to  enter  freely  therein,  relieve 
them  of  the  danger  and  the  dread  of  being  robbed,  beaten 
and  imposed  upon  by  their  ruthless  white  neighbors; 
in  short,  elevate  them  to  the  full  stature  of  citizenship, 
and  then  can  you  appeal  with  hope  of  success  to  your 
white  Southern  brethren;  but  until  you  do  these  things, 
your  purest,  most  unselfish  efforts  will  be  looked  upon 
with  suspicion,  and  they  will  be  frustrated  by  the  fatal 
argumentum  ad  hoininem. 


FINIS. 


V 


1 

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Date  Due 


 1 

JCT  ^  t 

! 

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l^^orm  335.    45M  8-37. 


D00676694 


336.61        B635  311983 


